Man, I miss Skip

[OldGoldBeard]

Odom recruited players that were named first team all conference eight times. Prosser recruited players that were named first team all conference two times. I loved Skip but those are the numbers.

In 12 seasons, Odom recruited 8 players who made All-ACC teams (Rogers, Childress, Owens, Duncan, Rutland, ROK, Songaila, Howard). In 6 seasons, Skip recruited 8 players who made All-ACC teams (Gray, Eric, CP, Visser, Ish, Teague, Johnson, Aminu). Vytas is a push.

Odom did a better job of getting stars; see the rafters for evidence. Skip did a better job recruiting depth.

 

[DirkTheDeac]

Are championships subjective?

Not at all. But that was not my point.

 

[Sportin' Woody]

SKIP MADE ME PROUD TO BE A DEAC NO MATTER THE SCORE AND NO MATTER THE RECORD ANY GIVEN YEAR CAUSE I HAD FAITH AND HOPE


#bzout

 

[KeEpEr]

In 12 seasons, Odom recruited 8 players who made All-ACC teams (Rogers, Childress, Owens, Duncan, Rutland, ROK, Songaila, Howard). In 6 seasons, Skip recruited 8 players who made All-ACC teams (Gray, Eric, CP, Visser, Ish, Teague, Johnson, Aminu). Vytas is a push.

Odom did a better job of getting stars; see the rafters for evidence. Skip did a better job recruiting depth.

A previous poster stated Skip did a better job swinging for the fences than Odom. Thanks.

 

[Atlanta Deacon]

There is so much revisionist history here about Skip. We were a terrible tournament team under Prosser and so was Xavier. He was a great man and a great representative for the university, but unless he changed the way we played or the type of player we recruited it would take a reversal of his last 20 years of coaching history for us to have post season success that matched regular season success. The washouts year in and year out in March were starting to get old and while everyone thought AT&T would save the program, we all know how that worked out.

 

[siff]

I loved it when Skip would wander into Benson and sit down to chat with students. Too awesome.

Reminds me of the good old days back in the late 80s when Bob Staak would wander into the Mag Room to sit down and do shots...uh, chat, with us.

 

[DirkTheDeac]

There is so much revisionist history here about Skip. We were a terrible tournament team under Prosser and so was Xavier. He was a great man and a great representative for the university, but unless he changed the way we played or the type of player we recruited it would take a reversal of his last 20 years of coaching history for us to have post season success that matched regular season success. The washouts year in and year out in March were starting to get old and while everyone thought AT&T would save the program, we all know how that worked out.

Whatever. I remember his years with pride and sorrow for what he might have done. He never had a chance with AT&T. But everyone is entitled to their opinion.

 

[suck my deac]

There is so much revisionist history here about Skip. We were a terrible tournament team under Prosser and so was Xavier. He was a great man and a great representative for the university, but unless he changed the way we played or the type of player we recruited it would take a reversal of his last 20 years of coaching history for us to have post season success that matched regular season success. The washouts year in and year out in March were starting to get old and while everyone thought AT&T would save the program, we all know how that worked out.

I'd be pretty happy with a great man and a great representative of the university right now, and at least a coach that puts us in a position to lose in the tournament. Each of those would be an upgrade right now. Skip is a legend.

 

[Atlanta Deacon]

I'd be pretty happy with a great man and a great representative of the university right now, and at least a coach that puts us in a position to lose in the tournament. Each of those would be an upgrade right now. Skip is a legend.

Agree with all of that.

 

[ironwill24]

ok to be honest I was a student at Wake and graduated in 2007 when we had a rough year under prosser and played no D...I think we ended about .500 and I was questioning Prosser. Man, it is true you don't realize what you had until you lose it!

 

[bym051d]

ok to be honest I was a student at Wake and graduated in 2007 when we had a rough year under prosser and played no D...I think we ended about .500 and I was questioning Prosser. Man, it is true you don't realize what you had until you lose it!

What I would do to end the season at .500.

 

[bojanglefunk]

No, not just because of the crap pile that is our basketball program now, but Skip was such a great face and ambassador for Wake Forest. I mean Skip really seemed to embrace Wake Forest. It's been posted about how much he supported the other sports at Wake, especially football. Also, how much he tried to involve and embrace the students and fans. I know Skip had his limitations as a coach. He didn't stress defense, his teams played a little bit reckless at times. Heck, if Skip hadn't passed, maybe he would've been canned by now, I don't know. However, looking back on it and comparing his time here to what is going on now, really makes me miss him.

I am going to go ahead and quote the original post since a lot of people crapping on Prosser have missed the fact that this about him as a man and not a coach.

 

[deaclite]

I was a big fan of Dave and later Skip as well. Dave was born and bred an ACC guy and Skip just had a way about how he conducted himself. Honestly, my favorite teams to watch still were under Tacy even though he was more of a Bz type personality.

 

[wfumike02]

Bz would have been a good assistant coach for Skip I bet

 

[wfumike02]

I don't know. I think Skip was a smart enough man that he would have adapted over time (hell, even Grobe has seen a need to shake up his staff, even if Lobo is still around). I have a hard time believing that Dino, his right-hand man, made the change to focus on defense absolutely alone and that the coaches weren't all migrating in that direction before Skip's death.

Agree. Dino himself said that Skip had already decided that the defense needed to be revamped prior to his passing.

Skip's teams played solid D when they had talented defensive players. Obviously part of it was that Skip played lineups that were susceptible on the defensive end, but the trade-off was usually worth it considering our personnel.

Agree.

All Howard. Even the Mavericks played D with Howard.

You're conveniently neglecting to mention that Skip is the one who Howard credits with getting him to the NBA. Josh grew tremendously as a player under Skip, including defensively.

He had good classes in '02 (one comment about this, Reff, and I will hunt you down and shove your whistle up your ass, you sorry sack of shit), '03, '07, and '08. Class of '06 could probably could go with that group. Class of '04 was limited due to scholarship space. Class of '05 was the only real stinker in the group. We also had astoundingly bad luck with CamStan, Ingram, and Skeen--all top 60 or so recruits at the time they committed--blowing out their knees their senior seasons.

IIRC Swinton did too.

There is so much revisionist history here about Skip. We were a terrible tournament team under Prosser and so was Xavier. He was a great man and a great representative for the university, but unless he changed the way we played or the type of player we recruited it would take a reversal of his last 20 years of coaching history for us to have post season success that matched regular season success. The washouts year in and year out in March were starting to get old and while everyone thought AT&T would save the program, we all know how that worked out.

As noted above, there's a lot of reason to believe he could have gotten over the hump. He certainly wouldn't have been the only coach to struggle in the post-season after moving to the major level and even after. Guys like Roy Williams and Bill Self come to mind. Dino got us to #1 in '09...there's a good chance Skip could have been able to keep Teague playing at a high level and continue the momentum.

 

[ironwill24]

I am going to go ahead and quote the original post since a lot of people crapping on Prosser have missed the fact that this about him as a man and not a coach.

Did you realistically think that people were just going to post about prosser as a man and not as a coach...come on bro.

 

[PhDeac]

You're conveniently neglecting to mention that Skip is the one who Howard credits with getting him to the NBA. Josh grew tremendously as a player under Skip, including defensively.

Josh and Paul are the only players who played for Skip for 2 or more years who made it into the NBA.


I wish Skip could have helped other players grow like he helped Josh.

 

[Deacfreak07]

Josh and Paul are the only players who played for Skip for 2 or more years who made it into the NBA.


I wish Skip could have helped other players grow like he helped Josh.

David West?

 

[PhDeac]

Wake players.

 

[liveanddiedeac]

Did you realistically think that people were just going to post about prosser as a man and not as a coach...come on bro.

Plus, I pointed out his shortcomings as a coach in the original post. Even went as far as to say, if Skip hadn't passed away, he might've been let go by now.