Wake Forest MBB coach Skip Prosser dead

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Rivals.com is saying Prosser is dead, W-SJ is saying collapse. Sportsline is going with the Rivals report.

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Wake coach Skip Prosser collapses while jogging

JOURNAL STAFF REPORT

Wake Forest Basketball Coach Skip Prosser collapsed while jogging at the university today and was taken to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, an athletic department official said.

His condition wasn't available from the hospital, and Wake Forest officials also would not comment on what happened.

Prosser, who is 56 came to Wake Forest in 2001. Before that he coached at Loyola and Xavier. He took each of those schools to the NCAA Tournament in his first season at each of those schools.

[FromWayDowntown]

Been a tough week in sports -- ESPN has gone with the Rivals report as well:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2950229

Prosser dies at age 56
ESPN.com news services

Updated: July 26, 2007, 4:18 PM ET

Wake Forest basketball coach Skip Prosser died, a source close to Prosser said Thursday. He was 56.

Prosser collapsed while jogging, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

He was taken to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, an athletic department official told the newspaper.

Prosser left Orlando, where the AAU national tournament is being held, this morning at 6 a.m. to return to Wake Forest for a basketball camp.

Mark Prosser, Skip Prosser's son and a Bucknell assistant coach, received a phone call at about 2:40 p.m. ET this afternoon while watching games at the Milkhouse in Orlando. He was visible shaking and crying and left the gym immediately.

Prosser took over at Wake Forest in 2001 after coaching at Xavier for seven seasons. He coached for one season at Loyola (Md.) in 1993-94.

Prosser's career record was 291-146 (.666). He was the 2003 ACC coach of the year. Prosser was 126-68 in six seasons at Wake Forest.

Last season, Wake Forest was 15-16 and lost to Virginia Tech in the second round of the ACC Tournament. In 2006, the Demon Deacons lost in the first round of the NIT.

In 2005, Wake Forest was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but lost to West Virginia 111-105 in double overtime. It was Chris Paul's final game at Wake Forest.

The 2004 team reached the East Region semifinals, losing to St. Joseph's. The year before, Wake lost to Auburn in the second round of the NCAA Tournament after winning the ACC regular-season title.

Prosser is survived by his wife, Nancy, and two sons: Scott and Mark, both in their 20s.

[JMarkJohns]

Terrible news. He was really starting to build that college into a basketball factory. Obviously the death is tragic in and of itself, but when you throw in that the fans were literally at the height of joy with the recent commitment of three 5-star talents, including a player most say is a top-5 recruit in the nation, this is going to be devastating, because not only do they lose their coach in tragic fashion, but they may now lose these recruits to which most of their hopes were built upon.

Tough, tough day for Wafe Forest and its fans.

[spurs_2108]

This is sad news. I followed WF basketball alot. Skip Prosser was such a great coach. I was shocked to see that he passed away on ESPNEWS just a few minutes ago. Thought and prayers go out to the family.

[John Patrick]

man that sucks...i thought it was going to be tim and chris paul mourning...

but since he came in 01'..

RIP

[spurs_2108]

Any one know of a memorial fund for Skip, I've been looking for something but can't find one. I'd like to donate some money to a fund or something along those lines.

[B and P Cats]

Any one know of a memorial fund for Skip, I've been looking for something but can't find one. I'd like to donate some money to a fund or something along those lines.


I wish I had seen this sooner. I think there was a fund to donate to, I just don't remember what it was. There was so much information about Prosser when he died in the media around here. If you haven't already, you might try calling the athletic department at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. I'm sure they could tell you of any fund there is in his memory.