ACC Countdown: No. 11 Wake Looks To Honor Prosser With Wins

On the door to Wake Forest’s gymnasium is written several words from Skip Prosser: “The best place you’ll ever be in your life is this gym.”

That saying is one of many quotes and challenges from Prosser that decorates the gymnasium walls and locker room at Wake Forest University.

Coach Dino Gaudio doesn’t avoid talking to his team about Prosser’s death from a heart attack on July 26. Rather, he uses the life and wisdom of Prosser to inspire his team.

“We’re trying to make it a celebration of his life instead of, just every time his name is evoked it becoming a sad, sad moment,” Gaudio said.

Gaudio was an on-and-off coworker of Prosser’s for 27 years, beginning as an assistant to Prosser at Central Catholic High School in West Virginia, where the two taught classes directly next to each other, and shared a love of basketball that would ultimately lead them through the ranks and to Wake Forest.

As a result, Prosser and Gaudio have many similarities in their coaching philosophy and even their humorous, amicable nature. Though Gaudio described himself as “more emotional” and “confrontational,” he learned from Prosser’s personality and caring persona.

“He got along with everybody,” Gaudio said. “And he never let any of the recruiting; any of the games affect his relationships.”

According to junior forward Cameron Stanley, the similarities between the coaches have helped to ease the coaching transition, though the loss of Prosser still weighs heavily on the team.

“They’re both funny, they’re both witty. The only thing different is that they’re different people, they have different personalities,” Stanley said. “But the things that they emphasize are the same. That’s why it hasn’t been too much of a transition. They use some of the same quotes. They’ve been together so long, it’s almost like they’re the same person.”

According to Stanley, the team will still look to push the ball full speed, much to the advantage of point guard Ishmael Smith, and will focus on rebounding.

One coaching difference, though, is Gaudio’s emphasis on defense.

“I’m not sure coach would want me to give out our secrets, but it’s different,” Stanley said. “We’re going to try to make it harder for a team to penetrate the ball, contest every shot and make it tough for teams to score.“

To improve upon last season’s 15-16 disappointment, the Deacons will need tremendous strides from returning players such as Smith, Harvey Hale, L.D. Williams, and Jamie Skeen, according to Gaudio.

But the Deacons are confident. They have a chip on their shoulder and something to prove. If not before, they now have a cause. Gaudio compared the season’s potential to a Shakespearian tragedy in that though there is a tragic loss, something beautiful can come from it.

“We’ve got to try to make this the greatest success story in college basketball this year,” Gaudio said. “That’s our mission.”

Gaudio and his players now, more than ever, want to make reality of Prosser’s high hopes and dreams for Wake Forest basketball.

“We have a tremendous cause,” Gaudio said. “Me and those kids have a great drive to complete what he started. He thought that we could take this program to the Final Four and win a national Championship. He believed that. And that is a tremendous motivator.”