NCAA Basketball: Ranking best head coaching hires from the year 2001
By Joey Loose
7. Skip Prosser (Wake Forest)
A lot can change in twenty years and that’s certainly true of the Wake Forest program. Nowadays, they’re a doormat in the ACC and have been barely competitive for the last decade. Back in 2001, the program was in solid shape under Dave Odom, who’d depart for South Carolina, leaving the program in the capable hands of Skip Prosser.
Prosser spent time as a high school head coach and an assistant at Xavier before making NCAA Tournaments as head coach at both Loyola-Maryland and Xavier. He led both programs to great success and was more than ready for the move to the ACC, continuing to elevate the stock of the Wake Forest program.
The Demon Deacons made the NCAA Tournament in each of Prosser’s first four years at the helm, including a Sweet Sixteen run in 2004. With a talented roster that included Chris Paul, Wake Forest was one of the best programs in the ACC, winning the outright conference title in his second season.
Sadly, Prosser died of a massive heart attack in 2007, a few months after completing his sixth year in Winston-Salem. Aide Dino Gaudio did well for a few seasons, but this program has not quite shined since Prosser roamed the sidelines and his tragic loss is still felt today in college basketball.