Hokie ClubAtlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford has announced that the league’s Faculty Athletics Representatives have voted unanimously to establish the Skip Prosser Award to honor the conference’s top student-athlete among the league’s men’s basketball players.
Wake Forest head coach George Edward “Skip†Prosser passed away on Thursday, July 26, 2007. A 1972 graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy, where he majored in Nautical Science, Prosser compiled a 291-146 career record in 14 seasons as a head coach, including a 126-68 mark in his six years at Wake Forest. The 2003 ACC Coach of the Year, Prosser won 20 plus games and led the Demon Deacons to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first four seasons at Wake Forest and brought the school its first outright ACC regular season title in 2003. Prosser is the only coach in NCAA history to take three different schools to the NCAA Tournament in his first season at each school - Loyola in 1994, Xavier in 1995 and Wake Forest in 2001.
The Prosser Award is similar to the league’s Jim Tatum Award, which has been presented annually since 1960 to the top senior student-athlete among the league's football players. Prosser believed strongly in the concept of the student-athlete and during his six years at Wake Forest, the Demon Deacons placed nine players on the annual All-ACC Academic Basketball Team, including Darius Songailia, Vytas Danelius, Chris Paul, Jamaal Levy and Kyle Visser. In addition, every senior who played for Prosser graduated.
Nominees for the Prosser Award must be in their third or fourth year of athletic competition and have maintained a 3.0 grade point average for their career as well as a 3.0 during the last two semesters. The Award will be based on 60 percent academic achievement and 40 percent athletic achievement.
In addition to the Prosser and Tatum Awards, the league voted to establish ACC Scholar-Athlete Awards for all of the Conference’s sponsored sports. The Men’s Golf Scholar-Athlete Award will be named after former Duke golf coach Rod Myers, who passed away this past March 30 after a battle with an acute form of leukemia. The 34-year mentor of the Duke men’s golf program was one of the mainstays of the Duke University athletic department and a well respected member of the golf community.