Prosser is top ACC coach
3/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 18, 2003
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - Coach Skip Prosser of Wake Forest says that all he ever wanted to be was a high-school history teacher.
But his career took a different path in 1972, when he was talked into taking over a ninth-grade basketball team at Linsly Institute in Wheeling, W.Va.
Linsly fell behind 22-0 in Prosser's first game.
"That's when I decided there was a little more to it than I imagined," said Prosser, who yesterday was a unanimous selection as The Associated Press coach of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Prosser led a Wake Forest team that was picked to finish sixth in the ACC to the school's first outright regular-season title in 41 years.
He received all 92 votes cast by members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association to win the award in his second season with the Deacons.
Prosser has a 45-18 record in his two seasons at Wake Forest and has led the Deacons to two NCAA Tournament appearances.
"That sort of thing has never been a big deal for me," he said. "It's gratifying for our kids because it shows that they've accomplished a lot, but I don't play. Even when I could play, I couldn't play."
Prosser grew up in Pittsburgh, the son of a railroad worker.
"My father was all about doing his job, no excuses. You don't care if it's snowing or raining or you're hurt and don't feel 100 percent," Prosser said. "You don't care who you're working with, you don't care what color they are, what their last name is or where they're from. You just do your job."
Prosser's no-nonsense style was something his players had to adjust to when he replaced Dave Odom two seasons ago, but it's a brand of coaching that his team has come to love.
"He's one of those guys who is straight up with you," point guard Taron Downey said. "He's also like cool and collected, and he's not going to hurt you by telling you what you need to know. He's a real straight shooter. I like him for that."
Prosser was a prep coach until 1985, when Pete Gillen hired him as an assistant at Xavier.
"It's probably the best move I ever did as a head coach as far as hiring an assistant," Gillen said.
Prosser left Xavier to be the head coach at Loyola (Md.) in 1994, then returned to Xavier as the head coach in 1995. He decided to take his biggest coaching leap two years ago by replacing Odom. He is the first Wake Forest coach to win the award since Odom won it in 1995.
"I didn't want to say, 'Man I wish I would have given it a shot,'" Prosser said of his move to the ACC. "I was 50 years old and set. I had a lifetime contract at the school that I loved, a city that I loved, and I had a church that I loved.
"Every time I changed jobs in coaching, it's never been about anything else other than accepting the next challenge."
Prosser now appears set - again. He has the Deacons rolling and says he has no interest in pro basketball.
"I like teaching. I don't know anything about pro ball. I have great friends in it, but I don't watch it. It's something that has never overly intrigued me," he said.
