Two things I remember most about Skip Prosser: he never made excuses, and he always said thank you. “Never delay gratitude,” he would always say, and he lived it. Once, after Skip had accepted the job at Wake Forest, I spoke at an event for him, and at the conclusion of the event, he handed me an envelope with a check in it. I wouldn’t take it from him, and told him I accepted the event simply because he asked me. That wasn’t good enough for Skip. He knew I had a young son, Anthony, and he said I should send him to his summer camp.
My wife and I thought our son was a bit too young for a week of overnight camp, so Skip encouraged me to bring Anthony to his two day “Father-Son” camp. I agreed, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Just before Fathers’ Day, Skip and his staff ran the Father-Son camp, and a bunch of dads and their sons went through camp together, ate together, and stayed in the dorms together. And, Skip had his players working the camp, so Anthony and the other kids did drills with Chris Paul, Justin Gray and Eric Williams. Skip and his players were absolutely great with the kids, and Anthony left the camp a huge Wake Forest fan, and he left there thinking that Skip and Chris Paul were his friends.
The following season, in 1995, I was assigned the Wake Forest-Illinois game when the Deacons were ranked No. 2 in the country. Illinois crushed Wake, and after the game I called my wife to check in. She told me that Anthony took the Wake loss pretty hard, and cried. Later, I went into the Wake Forest locker room to see Skip, and after we had talked for a while, he asked me how Anthony was doing. I told him what my wife had told me, and I didn’t think much of it.
Later that season, I was broadcasting the Wake Forest-Texas game, and I took Anthony with me. Before the game, Skip came over to where Anthony was sitting, and whispered in his ear. Later, I asked Anthony what Coach Prosser had said, and Anthony told me, “He said not to worry about it, because he cried after the Illinois game, too.”
