Lonergan Recalls 'Good Guy' Skip Prosser

By Chris McManes, MikeLonergan.com

Friday, July 27, 2007

Vermont coach Mike Lonergan saw Skip Prosser while recruiting in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Two days later Vermont assistant Matt Hahn sent Lonergan a text message with news that the Wake Forest basketball coach was dead. Lonergan still can’t believe it.

“It’s one of the most shocking things I’ve ever heard,” said Lonergan, who was in Orlando, Fla., recruiting when he heard of Prosser’s death. “I had just seen him and talked to him two days before in Las Vegas.”

Prosser was found slumped over and unresponsive in his Winston-Salem, N.C., office after a noon jog at about 12:45 p.m. Thursday. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center at 1:41 p.m. He was 56.

Lonergan got to know Prosser well when they and other college coaches spent a week together coaching U.S. soldiers in Kuwait as part of “Operation Hardwood IV: Hoops for Troops.” Prosser and Lonergan roomed in the same barracks, ate together, socialized with one another and went on various military-related tours together. Prosser’s team defeated Notre Dame coach Mike Brey’s squad for the championship.

“We were with each other almost every hour of the day and you feel like you’ve got this special bond,” Lonergan said. “It’s really sad for me and I’m sure for all the other guys who were in Kuwait. We got to know each other real well and we’re all shocked by this news.”

George Edward “Skip” Prosser compiled a 126-68 record in six years at Wake Forest, including four trips to the NCAA tournament. He was named Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year in 2003 after guiding the Demon Deacons to the ACC regular-season championship. Prosser, who also coached at Loyola (Md.) and Xavier, had a career record of 291-146. He is survived by his wife, Nancy, and sons Scott, 28, and Mark, 27. Mark is an assistant at Bucknell.

“Skip was a great friend and colleague who always had a ready smile,” said ACC Commissioner John Swofford in a written statement. “I always thought of him as a renaissance man; he had such varied interests in life. He 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. He represented all that is good in college sports and his loss is a very deep one. We will all miss him immensely. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Nancy, and his sons, Scott and Mark.”

Lonergan recalled talking with Prosser about a mutual friend, Tom Dickman, the father of one of Lonergan’s former players at Catholic University. Adam Dickman was a freshman point guard on the Cardinals’ 2001 national championship team and Tom is the head coach at Hood College in Frederick, Md.

“Skip was really one of the good guys in coaching,” Lonergan said. “He was just a good person. I got to know him well in Kuwait and we talked a lot. He wasn’t one of those hyped-up coaches and he worked out all the time. It’s really sad.”

When Lonergan saw Prosser in Las Vegas, he noticed that he was wearing his green “Support Our Troops” wristband. So Lonergan went back to his hotel and put his wristband on.

“I think that trip really touched him,” Lonergan said. “I just can’t believe he’s dead. It’s unbelievable.”