Skip Prosser Succumbs to Suspected Heart Attack

Wake Forest basketball coach Skip Prosser succumbed to a heart attack Thursday afternoon. In a statement, the University’s athletics director Ron Wellman said Prosser was fallen across his office couch in an unresponsive state. He said Mike Muse, director of basketball operations, found Prosser in his office, where he had gone after his noon jog and called campus medical personnel immediately.

After Prosser remained unresponsive to CPR and defibrillation, he was rushed to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 1:41 p.m. EDT. Prosser was 56 and a native of Pittsburgh. The dean of the university, Dr. William Applegate, said the symptoms surrounding Prosser’s death seemed to indicate a heart attack.

Prosser had a successful career as a coach at Wake Forest and also other places he had been associated with earlier. Prosser had an impressive overall career record. He had a tally of 291 wins and 146 losses during his entire career. He is also the only coach to have the distinction of taking three different schools into the NCAA tournament during his first season at each of these schools.

Before his stint at Wake Forest, Prosser worked at Xavier and Loyola of Maryland. He was the head coach at these places for seven years and one year, respectively. At Wake Forest, he worked with the Demon Deacons for six years.

During Prosser's stint at Wake Forest, the Deacons won 126 and lost 68 matches. They also gained the #1 ranking for the first time in the 2004-05 season. During this time, he led the team to an Atlantic Coast Conference triumph during the regular season in 2003.

Besides, the team also made it to the NCAA tournament four times continuously, during his first four seasons with the university. Prosser's time at Wake Forest also saw him bag the ACC Coach of the Year award in 2003.

A coach who believed in offense, Prosser had an average of 24 wins a season during his first four seasons at Wake Forest. This included a phenomenal 2005 season, wherein he helped the team chalk an amazing 27 wins, which is a school record.

He went to Kuwait with a group of fellow coaches in May for what was termed a "Hoops with the Troops" tournament.

"The entire sports world, particularly those associated with Wake Forest University and the Atlantic Coast Conference, are shocked and saddened by this tragic news," said ACC Commissioner John Swofford in a statement. "(Prosser) was truly a teacher, never forgetting the fact that he rose out of the high school ranks to become one of college basketball's best coaches and leaders."