Wake's 2008 basketball recruiting class has received plenty of praise. ESPN's Andy Katz continues that trend with this article about the trio Al-Farouq Aminu, Ty Walker, and Tony Woods.

He definitely has high praise for them and their decision to keep their commitments to Wake after Skip Prosser's passing, but more than that I love to see how complimentary the guys are of each other.

It's going to be a good year for Wake Forest basketball.

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I'm guessing this will be the last post to talk about Skip Prosser for awhile, but this video from MyFox WGHP from the Quad at midnight is a must see for any Wake fan. It's great to see what went on, plus it's a well edited piece. The bells at the end had me tearing up. Over at ESPN.com Andy Katz talks about Skip, Dino Gaudio, and the program as a whole one year later.

Speaking of ESPN, ACC bowl projections from Heather Dinnich - Wake to the Gator Bowl, which sounds about right if there's no ACC Championship game for the Deacs. Hopefully there is...

ACC coaches rankings with Grobe at the top, although I'm not sure I'm in too much agreement with the list as a whole.

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That was the scene last night on the Quad, as Wake Forest fans showed up to roll in memory of Skip. I applaud all of you who were able to make it out, and I hope to see the tradition continue in the future. I'll try to get a daylight picture up when there's a good one available later today.

Those who have been looking for them have probably already found most of these, but I thought it would be good to point out some of the better ones.

I was proud of the Winston-Salem Journal for their excellent coverage the last couple days. Thanks for making sure Skip's legacy is recognized.

There were other good pieces out there, and some good responses from fans and fellow bloggers.

All in all, I think the sports community did an admirable job respectfully remembering coach, and I think Wake Forest fans can be satisfied.

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It's hard to believe 364 days have come and gone since the passing of Skip Prosser. Tomorrow, July 26, will mark the one year anniversary of that unfortunate day, and Wake Forest fans will never forget the impact he had on the university.

One of the most amazing things about Skip was that his presence was not felt only at Wake Forest. He had a positive effect on every campus, every coach, every player, every media member, and every person who spent considerable time with him.

Though time may have dulled the pain for many of us, an anniversary like this is never easy. Many tough memories return, and many happy ones seem to hurt, too.

My path didn't cross Skip's for very long. I only spent one season paying close attention to him: my freshman year, his 2006-2007 season. Though it wasn't Skip's most successful season on the court, that brief glimpse provided all I needed to see the strength of his character.

Because I had spent such little time around him, I did not anticipate the effect his passing would have on me. I hadn't been around Skip long enough for him to have a huge personal effect on me, but seeing the impact he had in the lives of those who had been around him longer, I couldn't help but feel the pain of losing a great man.

Just yesterday, when listening to senior guard Harvey Hale and current head coach Dino Gaudio talk about Skip and the anniversary, I was reminded of the tremendous impact Skip had had on the lives of everyone around him. Not only did Harvey share how much Skip had meant to him on the basketball court, but he also expressed how much Skip had contributed to the development of his character. Coach Gaudio expressed similar sentiments, and talked about how difficult parts of this summer have been as he has traveled the country recruiting in all the same places Skip used to recruit.

There is no doubt about it; Skip was a great man who passed long before anyone on this earth would have liked. His presence is still felt in the Wake Forest basketball program and in the Wake Forest community as a whole. The Demon Deacons he touched will never forget him.

Although I will be unable to attend, I encourage all who are able to head to campus tomorrow night at midnight to throw a roll for Skip. I would love to see this become a yearly tradition, as it is exactly the type of memorial I believe Skip would enjoy.

Furthermore, in honor of Skip, Old Gold & Blog will be silent tomorrow, save for a single image. Feel free to leave your thoughts, memories, or anything else Skip-related in the comments section of this post today or that post tomorrow.

Coach Prosser, you are missed.

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Saturday afternoon, while many Wake Forest fans were on the practice fields watching the spring football game, another group of Deacons were busy honoring Skip Prosser’s legacy by playing a basketball tournament on the Collins Court blacktop.

The first ever Skip Prosser 3 on 3 Classic was the culmination of many weeks of hard work by a dedicated group of students. “It started with the on-campus organization called L.E.A.D.” said one of the event’s organizers, Matt Six. “It’s for freshman and sophomores and it basically teaches you leadership traits, and in the process you put together this proposal; some way to improve campus.”

“We identified the problem that Skip was not adequately honored and we wanted to build his legacy. Yes, he was honored at the Fairfield basketball game and has been honored with a couple of awards here and there, but we really wanted an on-campus event to honor his legacy because he really was such a unique individual in the Wake Forest community.”

Wake’s director of basketball operations Walt Corbean, who played under Prosser at Xavier, opened the afternoon by saying a few words about Skip. Shortly thereafter the 27 participating teams got down to the business of playing basketball.

This year’s event raised about $500, which will be donated to the American Heat Association in memory of Coach Prosser.

The Skip Prosser Classic does not expect to be a one-and-done event. “The event has been very successful; we’ve got 27 teams,” said Six. “We hope to keep on expanding year after year. The goal is to get as many participants out here as possible. We’ve got a couple of local teams, teams from the law school and the MBA program. We want to get the whole community involved.”

The leadership of this project deserves a lot of credit for getting this event organized and making it a success. I hope to see it continue to thrive for years to come.

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About a week ago I was contacted about a very cool event being put on by a group of Wake Forest students who wanted to do something to honor Coach Skip Prosser. I thought it was a great idea and a great cause, so I decided to let all of you know about it.

The Classic is a basketball tournament being held a week from tomorrow (April 19) at noon on the Collins basketball courts, an all proceeds from the event will go the American Heart Association in memory of Skip Prosser.

The 12:00 tipoff of the event is one hour before the beginning of the spring football game, so I highly encourage all of you who are coming to the game to come one hour earlier and stop by the basketball courts. The basketball team and Coach Dino Gaudio will be there for the tip, and I believe Dino will say a few words. It should be a beautiful day and a great event.

One final thing: I need to check on the possibility of doing this (it may be student-only sign ups) but if there are people interested in playing in the tournament send me an email and let me know. I'd be happy to have the blog sponsor a team or two to play.

Details:
When: Saturday, April 19th at noon (Rain Date is Sunday, April 20th at 1pm)
Where: Collins Basketball Courts
Who: ANYONE AND EVERYONE
Cost: $15 per team
Sign-ups: Outside the pit starting Thursday, April 10th until Wednesday, April 16th, or in the Intramural Office in Reynolds Gym.

Come out and support this great event, and let me know if you want to play!

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Plenty of news articles coming out for Tuesday. I'll try to keep a running list here. Needless to say, things are looking pretty good. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.

WS Journal - Dan Collins
Rome Tribune - Tony Woods
USA Today - Prosser Gets Credit
WWAY Wilmington - Ty Walker
Atlanta J-C - Top Class

I'm sure I'm missing several more, but that's a good start. Let me know if I missed something.

By the way, I recognize I've been mostly just pointing you to places to read things elsewhere these last couple days. I hope to write something opinion-wise about the recruiting class hopefully sometime tomorrow, but its just been one of those weeks when it comes to school. The NC State interview should be coming tomorrow, and I'll of course be covering the game Saturday.

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Big props to Justin Young of Rivals.com for a very very good article about next year's big three - Al-Farouq Aminu, Tony Woods, and Ty Walker (who, by the way, are expected to sign their letters of intent tomorrow).

Rivals.com - AT&T

We've heard all about the Prosser story from the angle of the current team, but this is the best I've seen looking at it from the perspective of our recruits. Definitely worth reading.

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It was a beautiful ceremony for Skip. Nothing over the top or extravagant, but a beautiful job of honoring a special man and the impact he had on a special school. It began with a moment of silence, followed by the introduction of the Prosser family. ACC Officials then presented the ACC distinguished service award to the family, and announced it had been renamed the Skip Prosser Distinguished Service Award (I may not have that name exactly right, but it’s been renamed for him). The presentation was followed by a short video with pictures and video footage of a smiling Prosser, both on and off the court. After the video a banner was unrolled from the rafters next to Josh Howard’s banner. It says Skip Prosser across the top, his picture in the middle, and “2001-2007” across the bottom where the player’s number usually goes. The team then went over and hugged all of the family members. Several ovations and a playing of the fight song followed.

The crowd was great. Students section was very very close to full, the rest of the stadium not quite as full. We’ll go with an estimate of about 11,000. Everyone was on their feet; many were emotional (including me, it was impossible not to at least be choked up). Overall it was a perfect way to honor a very special man.

Skip Prosser, you will certainly be missed.

Now let’s play some basketball. Do it for Skip. One Team. One Fight.

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