The Passing of Skip Prosser

Skip Prosser's first year at Wake Forest was my third. When he was hired to succeed Dave Odom after Odom's abrupt resignation in 2001, it was viewed as a relatively safe, unexciting hire. Prosser had made Xavier into a perennial NCAA Tournament contender but Wake Forest fans, accustomed to ACC Tournament wins and Elite Eight appearances after a successful seven-year run, were relatively unimpressed. We thought we deserved better than an ex-high school-history-teacher-turned-coach whose teams were more accustomed to dancing in the NIT rather than the NCAAs. We thought wrong.
Wake Forest basketball was at a precipice when Odom resigned. The program could have dropped off the national map following Josh Howard's graduation. Logic dictated that perhaps it should have. But despite those odds, Skip Prosser brought Wake basketball back to national prominence. His teams might have not lived up to expectations in the postseason, but that there were any expectations at all is a testament to Prosser and his coaching staff.
Wake Forest fans seem to think it's the school's birthright to be good in college basketball when, in reality, the Deacs really have no business contending for ACC titles. A small liberal-arts school situated 45 minutes down Tobacco Road from UNC and Duke, Wake Forest was an ACC doormat for the better part of the '70s and '80s (with the exception of a nice stretch from 1981-1984).
It wasn't until Odom scored a recruiting coup by getting Rodney Rogers to commit in 1990 (along with Randolph Childress) that Wake consistently proved to be a contender in the ACC. (The Deacs had made the NCAA Tournament in only four of the previous 28 years, and hadn't even earned an NIT bid since 1985 before Rogers and Childress came to Winston-Salem.) Fortunes changed for Odom and Wake Forest when he got a tip on a tall, lanky, ex-swimmer in St. Croix who wasn't on anybody's recruiting radar. Odom, along with assistant Jerry Wainwright (now head coach at DePaul), brought the raw youngster to Winston-Salem and gave him a scholarship. Four years later, Tim Duncan was the #1 pick in the NBA Draft.
After Duncan, Wake Forest struggled, missing the NCAA Tournament for three straight seasons. Odom's squad made the Tournament in 2001, but was embarrased by Butler in the first round in what would end up being the coach's final game on the sidelines.
Prosser inherited an aging team in his inaugural year at Wake (save for star-in-the-making Josh Howard); one that would have to reload after his first season at the helm, as four starters graduated in 2002. As Howard had yet to break out, not much was expected of Prosser in 2003. He helped his cause by scoring the two biggest recruiting gets since Rodney Rogers, when North Carolina prep stars Justin Gray and Eric Williams committed to play in Winston-Salem.
Buoyed by the new freshman, Howard and Odom recruits Jamaal Levy, Taron Downey and Vytas Danielus, Wake, picked to finish 6th in the preseason ACC media poll, won their first outright regular season title in nearly four decades. Howard was named ACC Player of the Year. At that point, Skip had the best record of any ACC coach in his first two seasons, ever. But, as would become the norm during his tenure at the helm, Prosser's team was upset in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament by #7 seed Auburn.
The next year saw the arrival of McDonald's All-American Chris Paul, who would lead Wake to its first #1 ranking in school history in 2004. Again, though, the Deacs couldn't get it done in March as Paul's final game was a devastating double-overtime upset loss at the hands of West Virginia.
Wake struggled under Prosser after Paul's departure, but the coach appeared to save his job for the forseeable future after signing three of the top 18 high school juniors in the country over the past three weeks. As always, kids wanted to come and play for Skip.
As evidenced by all the glowing words written and said about Prosser since his tragic death yesterday, that he was able to pull top recruits to Winston-Salem shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. By all accounts, Prosser was one of coaching's good guys.
You'd probably have a difficult time finding a harsher Skip Prosser critic than myself. I criticized his offensive schemes (or lack thereof), his defensive philosophy (or, also, a lack thereof), his usage of timeouts, substitutions; pretty much anything related to the game of basketball. Numerous times, I called for his ousting (including last January when rumors circulated that Cincinnati was interested in grabbing Prosser for their vacant head coaching position).
Even with all that though, I still always liked and respected Prosser the man and Prosser the program builder. When Prosser came in, he helped institute some changes to the student section at Lawrence Joel Coliseum, a much needed move that made Wake a more difficult place to play. During my freshman year at Wake, students were scattered throughout the lower bowl and there was no cohesiveness to the cheering section. With the Prosser-suggested moves (plus the "Screamin' Decons" tye-dyed shirts), the student section was fairly imposing.
I was reminded of that last night when watching the Prosser tribute on ESPN Classic. After a Chris Paul three-pointer extended Wake's lead over Duke, the familiar refrains to Zombie Nation's "Kernkraft 400" blared over the LJVMC speakers. I had never heard that song at a sporting event before Wake started playing it during Prosser's second season. The thumping bass-line will always remind me of the memorable double-OT game against Duke in 2003, when Wake held on despite Howard, Gray and Williams all fouling out. It was Prosser's best-coached game wearing the Old Gold & Black.
When my buddy Scott texted me with the startling message "i think Prosser died" early yesterday afternoon, I was sitting in Citizen's Bank Park watching the Nationals play the Phillies in an afternoon tilt. For the next few minutes, as I tried to get confirmation from others (which proved difficult, as the national media didn't break the news for another half-hour), I sat in a daze, half-shocked, half-surprised by how much I was affected by the pending loss of a coach with whom I had made a constant target of my vitriol. When I eventually got the call that Prosser had, indeed, passed away after a morning jog nearby where I had had a similar heart episode six years before, I sat in silence.
Even when the Nationals took the lead on a three-run homerun in the 8th, I didn't react, too stunned to move. Headed in the bottom of that inning, though, with the Phillies fans deflated after the blown lead, the stadium DJ put on a song intended to raise the spirits of the crowd. As the opening strains to the song that I first had heard while cheering on Skip Prosser and the Demon Deacons began blaring through the stadium, I smiled.

Skip Prosser: 1950-2007

I'll post my thoughts tomorrow on the shocking death of Wake Forest basketball coach Skip Prosser. Although I've written negatively about Skip's coaching many times in the past; those criticisms were strictly related to basketball and had no influence on my respect for him as a program-builder, leader and man. Prosser was a tremendous asset to the Wake Forest community. He will be greatly missed.

And He Was Only The Fourth-Crappiest Referee In The NBA

The least-surprising surprising news you'll see all day.

Marcus Vick Is No Longer The Family Black Sheep

Unless he wants to be branded as a hypocrite who plays favorites, Roger Goodell has to suspend Michael Vick for at least two games following his indictment on dog-fighting-related conspiracy charges. If Pac-Man Jones can get sat down for a season for an offense he has yet to be convicted of, Vick needs to get something, guilty sentence be damned.
I don't buy the chatter that Vick shouldn't be suspended because he's not a "repeat offender", a theory which was being espoused on ESPN yesterday evening. The story goes that since Vick hasn't had "multiple incidents" like Pac-Man Jones, Chris Henry or Tank Johnson his actions don't merit a suspension. Bullshit. Even though Vick managed to skate on the water bottle incident, his name was still in the news in a negative light. Also, let's not forget about the infamous "Ron Mexico" case, in which Vick was accused of being a herpes version of Santa Claus. That the media is all of a sudden trying to turn Vick into a boy scout is baffling.
Unlike with any of the aforementioned players, Vick is a known star and his legal troubles are making national news. If Goodell is trying to clean up his league, suspending players who are famous for being infamous won't do. He needs to react with a firm hand when one of the league's most popular players screws up.
In a generally face-less league, Michael Vick is one of the few stars. Despite his history of quarterbacking mediocrity, Vick is a recognizable name and one of the few marketable players around. His court hearings and trial will be major news, even moreso than Kobe Bryant's. With Kobe, there were always questions about the validity of the "victim". There will be no such reservations here. The Feds don't frivolously indict people like prosecutors in, say, Durham. If they indicted Vick, they fully expect to win at trial. It doesn't mean they're going to or that the indictment is necessarily justified, but it means Vick is in deep trouble and that this isn't going away anytime soon.
As a result, Goodell has to suspend Vick for the start of the 2007 season. It's the only move he can make. He didn't care about convictions when dealing with other players, so he can't worry about it now. The commissioner isn't playing the role of judge, he's running a business. He has set a precedent in dealing with criminal actions (or the appearance of such actions) and he needs to continue down this path.
No matter whether you think Michael Vick is innocent or guilty (and he's totally guilty, by the way), you can't deny that Vick is giving the league another black eye it can't afford. No matter what he does, Goodell will be sending a message to the NFL. If he suspends Vick, he'll show that no player is above the law and that misconduct won't be tolerated. If he lets Vick skate until a conviction comes, Goodell will lose any credibility he has earned during his short time atop the country's most popular sports league.

This Will Make The Inevitable 2009 Second Round Upset Loss All The More Painful

More on Wake Forest's 2008 recruiting class:

"In the wake of Prosser's recruiting march through Georgia, the Deacons have the best recruiting class at this point in the summer."
- Kevin Armstrong, SI.com

Tony Woods thinks Skip Prosser has a reputation for building big men and is excited to play with Ish Smith. Well, one outta two ain't bad.
- Winston-Salem Journal

Scout.com's Dave Telep in the Raleigh News-Observer:

This is the biggest recruiting day for Wake Forest since Chris Paul announced.
There are two programs out in front of everyone with the Class of 2008 -- Wake Forest and UCLA. Wake Forest has the big men, and UCLA has the guards.
This is a major development in the ACC for Wake Forest to bring in this kind of class.
Wake Forest has a class that anybody -- Kentucky, Duke, Connecticut, UCLA, UNC -- would like to have.

There Will Be No Skip Prosser Criticism Today

As he often does, my newly-engaged buddy Scott has tipped me off to another Skip Prosser-recruiting coup: Al-Farouq Aminu and Tony Woods, ranked #3 and #18, respectively, in their high school class by Rivals.com, committed to Wake Forest yesterday. The long-time friends and teammates chose Wake over North Carolina and Georgia Tech, among others.
From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

"I like the small-school atmosphere; it's like a family there," said Aminu, who committed to the Demon Deacons late Wednesday night. "All the schools were kind of equal. [Wake Forest] is a small school with great people; that's what it came down to."
Aminu, whose older brother, Alade, is a rising junior forward/center at Georgia Tech, found it hard to explain what put Wake Forest over the top.
"I just went with my heart," he said. "And that was telling me Wake was the best place for me."

Aminu is the #1 power forward in the Rivals rankings while Woods is tabbed as the #3 center. They join Wilmington's Ty Walker (#2 center, #10 overall) in Wake's 2008 recruiting class.
Scott, never accused of being a pessimist, entitled his email: "Final 4 '09". Frankly, I'm more excited about the prospect of yelling "Al-FAROUQ" when Aminu inevitably throwns down on Brian Zoubek.

Wednesday

It's been a while since I've posted; mainly because I'm in the midst of a two-week class that meets all day from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. It's amazing how quickly six hours can pass while sitting on a couch on a Sunday in November watching football and how slowly they can pass while listening to some dude from Long Island talking about God knows what. Chlorophyll? More like BOREaphyll!
Actually, it's not that bad at all because it's a computer course, so I spend my days endlessly reloading ESPN.com and cursing Gawker Media for changing the layout of Deadspin to a muddled, unappealing mess. This is why nobody should ever rely on the British for anything. Ever.
Anyway, in lieu of longer stuff for the next two weeks, I think I might just post some short little entries as they pop into my head. (Note: Whenever I make such pronouncements about what I might, or might not do, with this site, I never end up following them).
Some thoughts for Wednesday:

* Tiger Woods' inaugural AT&T National exceeded even the highest of expectations this weekend. For a tournament that didn't exist 122 days ago, Congressional and Tiger's people put on a fantastic event that instantly becomes one of the top non-majors on the PGA Tour schedule. I've been to two U.S. Opens (including one at Congressional) and the final day at the AT&T had a similar feel. (But not an actual feel, because neither Open I was at was contested on a 96 degree day after I had played 18 in the morning.)
Tiger was the clear drawing point to the tournament, but Congressional played a large role as well. I have a difficult time believing 37,000 people (2,000 more than attended any session of the U.S. Open) would have braved the heat on Sunday had the AT&T National been played at the nearby (and much-reviled) TPC at Avenel.
My friends and I based our day around watching Tiger (as the final group pairing of KJ Choi and Stuart Appleby wasn't the most interesting); sitting at the tee on #7, watching the entire par 3 10th and getting a great location at the back of the 15th green. Having seen Tiger at the '05 Open at Pinehurst, I knew how cool it is to see him up close. But when he strode up to the 7th tee box, I realized I had forgotten just how awe-inspiring the site was.
It's tough to describe if you haven't seen him up close. Even at his most mundane, walking up to a tee box or green, Tiger carries an electricity with him. Having seen M.J. in his prime, my cousin and I wondered which athlete was more impressive to see. We decided that being five feet from Tiger as he teed off, hearing him talk to his caddie and watching his disgusted reaction after pushing a short iron on #7, was better than seeing Jordan from seven rows back. Maybe at his prime, MJ was more exciting. But the feeling that buzzes through the gallery when Tiger puts his tee into the ground is different.
After Tiger's approach on #15 landed at the back of the green in the exact spot my friends and I were standing, we were able to watch Tiger stalk his putt from up close. As he was doing it, we could tell that, years from now, we wouldn't be able to remember a single thing about our afternoon at the AT&T National (for the actual golf was quite uneventful) except that we were in close proximity to the most dominant athlete on the planet. Oh, and that he missed the putt as badly as I did when I played 18 earlier in the day. That too.

* My new favorite golfer: Charley Hoffman. Celebrates the spirit of Barry Melrose while looking like Karl from Die Hard.

Answering Questions Directed Towards Someone Else

For some reason, people take time out of their days to ask somebody named Matt Williamson about his NFL opinions. (Only in New York!) Today, somebody just as insignificant will answer those queries as if they were directed towards himself. I am, of course, talking about me. Or was I?

Mark (Philly): If McNabb stays healthy this year are the Eagles a Super Bowl threat?\
A threat to not make it there? Absolutely. But seeing as how Mark is from Philly and, therefore, quite delusional about his team's chances of winning this season, I'll infer he means a threat to make it the Super Bowl. And the answer isn't as easy as you'd expect.
You see, this is sort of a trick question to begin with, as the only thing the Eagles are a threat for with a healthy McNabb is getting to and, subsequently, losing the Super Bowl after a particularly ill-timed regurgitation. Furthermore, the odds of McNabb staying healthy for 16 games are about the same as Pac Man Jones staying out strip clubs for a similar length of time.

chris (Lodi,NJ): What are the predictions on my 49ers, I hearing alot of good things out of camp from Hill and Brown.
One of my favorite parts of July, besides the oppressive heat and stifling humidity, are the feel-good feature articles run in local newspapers. They invariably follow one of these four forms:
1) Rookie with troubled past perserveres to make it to the NFL with some unexpected help on the way.
2) Misunderstood veteran gets a clean slate with new team and is working harder than ever.
3) Veteran has rededicated himself to the game and sees big things in the making.
4) Coaching staff realizes errors of ways and plans to reshape the offense/defense in a more traditional way.
I read these in The Washington Post every morning, telling myself that I'm not going to fall for it, but then inevitably fail and emerge from the 1,200 word feature with an undying love for all things LaRon Landry. Newspapers do this with all sports, but only with the NFL will people actually buy into the "things have changed" motif. When I'm reading about the Washington Nationals in the early-season, I start to think that maybe they won't be as bad as 120 losses, what with the guy who raised his blind sister and the pitching coach who openeded a convent for AIDS-infected nuns on the roster. But, in reality, I know they'll be bad.
With the NFL, it's different. Everyone actually does have a chance in July and these stories are the news equivalent of the girl that flirts with you all night at a bar, lets you buy her drinks and pretty much gives everyone the impression that you're getting some, right unitil she leaves with her friends when the last-call lights come on.

Carl: VA: do you see clinton portis being an injury risk this year?
In a perfect world, Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts would be able to share carries without incident. This being Redskins world, however, expect to see C.P. get overloaded in the middle of the season, leading to a repeat of this scene come November: Rob (Baltimore): Washington will be at least .500, true or false?
Ouch, that hurts. A scout who was so good at his job that he had to leave for a job talking about scouting thinks the Redskins won'e be .500. Might as well pack it in now, Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs. For Matt Williamson knows what he speaks of. After all, he was a college and pro scout for six whole years with the Cleveland Browns. Their record during his tenure was 30-66, which, to my knowledge, isn't real close to .500 either.

Christy: Charlotte, North Carolina: I am really high on Tony Romo future as a Top QB in the NFL. I'm also a huge Terrell Owens fan! No matter what team he's on. Despite all of that I'm not sure if Wade Pillips is the guy who will lead the Cowboys back to the Super Bowl. Help me out Matt. Thanks, Christy! :)
I'm not going to answer this, I just think that reminding yourself that Wade Phillips is the new Cowboys head coach is a sure-fire way to turn a bad day into a good one.

Nick (Dover, Pa): If McNabb is healthy is he not top 5 QB material?
Note to Eagles fans: Anytime you have to preface a question about a player with "If _____ stays healthy", it's a sure sign that ______ is, and will continue to not be, healthy. Also, Williamson says that McNabb is the 4th best QB in the NFL. It's a wonder the Browns were able to even win 30 games with declarations like that.

You Stay Classy, Rodriguez Family


And I, for one, place the blame entirely on the media. How dare they print a picture of A. Rod's wife wearing an obscenity-laden shirt in a public place full of children!