Wake Forest Athletics
Photo by: Seth Seebaugh / Wake Forest Athletics
Steve Forbes Named Finalist for Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award
3/6/2025 1:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest head men's basketball coach Steve Forbes has been named a finalist for the 2024-25 Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award, announced on Thursday. The award is presented annually to the Division I coach who wins with integrity on and off the court.
Established in 2008, the Skip Prosser Award is named in memory of the former Demon Deacon head men's basketball coach who led the program from 2002-07 while posting a 126-68 record in his six seasons.
At Wake Forest, Prosser's teams averaged 21 wins per season, as he coached program legends Chris Paul and Josh Howard while also leading the Deacs to the first No. 1 national ranking in school history and earning ACC Coach of the Year honors in 2003.
Last week, Prosser was inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame.
Currently in his fifth season at the helm of the program, Forbes has built the Deacs into one the ACC's top teams. The team has claimed 46 regular season conference victories since the 2021-22 campaign, tied for the most over a four-year span in program history.
Additionally, Wake Forest has established an exceptional home court advantage with 60 wins at LJVM Coliseum the last four seasons, tied for the fifth-most nationally during that span.
This year, Wake Forest has won 12 ACC games, marking the eighth time the program has tallied 12 or more conference victories in a single season and the second time in four seasons.
Entering their regular season finale this Saturday, the Deacs will be looking to match the program record of 13 ACC regular season victories set three previous times during the 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2021-22 seasons. With six victories on the road in conference play, Wake Forest also tied the program record for ACC road wins in a single season.
Up to date in his Wake Forest tenure, Forbes has coached a first round NBA Draft pick, an ACC Player of the Year, two Associated Press ACC Player of the Year honorees, four All-ACC players and 16 Academic All-ACC selections. He was named the 2022 ACC Coach of the Year after leading the Deacs to a 23-8 regular season record – its best single-season win total since 2008-09.
In March 2024, the Forbes family was named the recipient of the 19th annual ACSMA Bob Bradley Award for Sprit & Courage, celebrating resilience, perseverance and inspiring efforts shown following a stroke suffered by Johnetta Forbes in August 2023.
Forbes was one of 25 coaches named to this year's list of finalists.
Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award Finalists
Rick Barnes, Tennessee
Brian Barone, SIU Edwardsville
Chris Beard, Ole Miss
Brad Brownell, Clemson
Shane Burcar, Northern Arizona
Mark Byington, Vanderbilt
John Dunne, Marist
Steve Forbes, Wake Forest
Jason Hooten, New Mexico State
Ben Jacobsen, Northern Iowa
Robert Jones, Norfolk State
Billy Lange, Saint Joseph's
Grant Leonard, Queens
Bart Lundy, Milwaukee
Niko Medved, Colorado State
Ryan Odom, VCU
Kelvin Sampson, Houston
Jon Scheyer, Duke
Patrick Sellers, Central Connecticut State
Duane Simpkins, American
Pat Skerry, Towson
Tony Skinn, George Mason
Shaka Smart, Marquette
Billy Taylor, Elon
Stan Waterman, Delaware State
Established in 2008, the Skip Prosser Award is named in memory of the former Demon Deacon head men's basketball coach who led the program from 2002-07 while posting a 126-68 record in his six seasons.
At Wake Forest, Prosser's teams averaged 21 wins per season, as he coached program legends Chris Paul and Josh Howard while also leading the Deacs to the first No. 1 national ranking in school history and earning ACC Coach of the Year honors in 2003.
Last week, Prosser was inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame.
Currently in his fifth season at the helm of the program, Forbes has built the Deacs into one the ACC's top teams. The team has claimed 46 regular season conference victories since the 2021-22 campaign, tied for the most over a four-year span in program history.
Additionally, Wake Forest has established an exceptional home court advantage with 60 wins at LJVM Coliseum the last four seasons, tied for the fifth-most nationally during that span.
This year, Wake Forest has won 12 ACC games, marking the eighth time the program has tallied 12 or more conference victories in a single season and the second time in four seasons.
Entering their regular season finale this Saturday, the Deacs will be looking to match the program record of 13 ACC regular season victories set three previous times during the 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2021-22 seasons. With six victories on the road in conference play, Wake Forest also tied the program record for ACC road wins in a single season.
Up to date in his Wake Forest tenure, Forbes has coached a first round NBA Draft pick, an ACC Player of the Year, two Associated Press ACC Player of the Year honorees, four All-ACC players and 16 Academic All-ACC selections. He was named the 2022 ACC Coach of the Year after leading the Deacs to a 23-8 regular season record – its best single-season win total since 2008-09.
In March 2024, the Forbes family was named the recipient of the 19th annual ACSMA Bob Bradley Award for Sprit & Courage, celebrating resilience, perseverance and inspiring efforts shown following a stroke suffered by Johnetta Forbes in August 2023.
Forbes was one of 25 coaches named to this year's list of finalists.
Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award Finalists
Rick Barnes, Tennessee
Brian Barone, SIU Edwardsville
Chris Beard, Ole Miss
Brad Brownell, Clemson
Shane Burcar, Northern Arizona
Mark Byington, Vanderbilt
John Dunne, Marist
Steve Forbes, Wake Forest
Jason Hooten, New Mexico State
Ben Jacobsen, Northern Iowa
Robert Jones, Norfolk State
Billy Lange, Saint Joseph's
Grant Leonard, Queens
Bart Lundy, Milwaukee
Niko Medved, Colorado State
Ryan Odom, VCU
Kelvin Sampson, Houston
Jon Scheyer, Duke
Patrick Sellers, Central Connecticut State
Duane Simpkins, American
Pat Skerry, Towson
Tony Skinn, George Mason
Shaka Smart, Marquette
Billy Taylor, Elon
Stan Waterman, Delaware State
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