Sports > April 10, 2008

By Connor Swarbrick | Asst. sports editor

When Demon Deacon Head Basketball Coach Skip Prosser died last summer, his players, both past and present, went to the gym. They played pickup games because they didn’t know what else to do. It was their way of honoring Prosser, their way of paying tribute to the man that many of them looked to as a father figure. It was what Skip would have wanted.

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Now the whole Wake Forest community will have the opportunity to do the same – honor the coach and community leader on the basketball court.

Leadership, Excellence, Application and Development (L.E.A.D.) is sponsoring the first annual “Skip Prosser 3-on-3 Classic.” The event will be held on the courts outside of Collins Residence Hall on April 19. The tournament will be preceded by a speech from a member of the community who was close to Prosser.

L.E.A.D., now in its 24th year on campus, is Wake Forest’s flagship program for student leadership development. It strives to identify problems on campus and then help to develop proposals that will be the catalyst for positive change in response to those problems.

“Our group feels the university should continue to honor Prosser, who was a vital member of the Wake Forest community, and this event will deservedly build his legacy,” junior Matt Six, mentor of the organizing committee, said.

Prosser’s legacy was celebrated before the Nov. 9 basketball game against Fairfield and a banner honoring his memory now hangs in the rafters of Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum.

There are also several awards that honor the exceptional man that Prosser was.

The “Skip Prosser Man of the Year” award is given annually to the Division I head coach who enjoys success on and off the court. The ACC also recognizes the league’s top student-athlete in men’s basketball with the “Skip Prosser Award.”

However, L.E.A.D. felt the Wake Forest community needed to further remember Prosser’s legacy.

“Skip was known for his witty humor, evidenced with his numerous ‘Skipisms’ that we have posted around campus,” Six said. “He will truly be missed, and we want to build his wonderful legacy with this tournament.”

Anyone can enter. Teams will be made up of three people, and there will be two divisions: male and female.

There will be a men’s and a women’s division.

Sign-ups will be outside of the Pit from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. starting April 10 and going through April 16.

The cost is $15 per team. Deacon Dollars are accepted.

Prosser died of heart disease last summer and, at the request of his wife Nancy, proceeds from the event will benefit the American Heart Association.

L.E.A.D. is hoping to involve as many people as possible in the event, and they want to make it an annual tradition in celebration of Skip’s life and all of his accomplishments.

“Participating in this tournament is not about basketball skill, it is about honoring Skip, having fun and raising money for a good cause,” Six said.

“We want everyone to participate and we hope they will participate with Skip’s extraordinary sense of humor in mind.”

Athletic Director Ron Wellman and the basketball team are also enthusiastic about the idea.

The basketball team will be assisting with sign-ups and each member of the winning 3-on-3 team in their respective brackets will receive their own basketball autographed by the team.

The basketball tournament will be an appropriate tribute to Skip’s successful career at Wake Forest, as a coach, teacher and friend.

“We know that the Wake Forest community was devastated with the loss of Skip Prosser,” sophomore Kelly Laffey, a member of the organizing committee said.

“When reading an article about the funeral I realized just how much of an impact Skip Prosser had – not only on Wake Forest, but on collegiate athletics as a whole. His contributions will never be forgotten and we felt that the Wake Forest community needed an outlet to share our memories and express our gratitude for Skip.”