Always a Winner
by Mike Brey,
University of Notre Dame
This feature was also published in fall 2007 issue of the NABC
publication, "Time Out."
It
was May 28, 2007, the final day of Operation Hardwood IV. After
six days of competition, we are playing in the championship
game. It’s been an incredible week at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait
City, Kuwait. I am one of eight coaches that made the trip and
it has been a tremendous experience for all of us.
Now there is just one final game before we board the plane and
head back to Dulles airport in Washington, D.C. My opponent in
the final game is my good friend, Skip Prosser.
I had known Skip for many years. We came from similar
backgrounds. We were both high school coaches who drove the bus
and taught class. While we may have had different coaching
influences, we both shared an appreciation for our roots. It was
something we talked about often.
Over the years we each experienced our share of success, but our
relationship got stronger through our own trials and
tribulations. Two years ago we became physiologists for one
another. Both of us had difficult years. We shared a lot of
thoughts and ideas and really leaned on each other a lot.
Those conversations meant a lot to me. I learned a lot of great
lessons as a coach and I learned a lot of about Skip.
So many things stand out about the person he was, which began
with his demeanor. Skip always handled himself like he was still
coaching at Wheeling Catholic high school. While he had a great
presence as a person his personality was very unassuming. For
all his accomplishments on the court, he never presumed to be
better then the high school coach who was struggling to get
through a season. He really never took himself too seriously.
In the past year we had spoken more often, as I was in the
process of joining the NCAA Rules Committee. Skip had spent the
past two years on the committee and this September I would begin
my first. We discussed various aspects of the rules, but more
importantly Skip took time to prepare me for the process.
Needless to say it was pretty easy for me when I was told I had
one invitation I could extend to travel to Kuwait for Operation
Hardwood. I remember laughing to myself when I was told to
consider asking a coach who was well grounded and would both
understand and appreciate what we were about to embark on. Of
course I didn’t know then that my invitee would be my opponent
on the final day of competition.
We had a great staff in Kuwait. Along with Skip and me Ed Conroy
(The Citadel), Jim Crews (Army), Dennis Felton (Georgia), Fran
Fraschilla (ESPN analyst), Mike Lonergan (Vermont) and Reggie
Minton (National Association of Basketball Coaches) made the
trip to Camp Arifjan (May 22-28). It was a great experience for
everyone involved.
It gave us all a great perspective and served as a great
educational experience as well. I learned a lot on that trip,
including something that really surprised my about Skip. I
learned that he had never been to South Bend for a Notre Dame
football game.
Skip’s connection to Notre Dame goes back to the 1970s, when
Digger Phelps was the head coach. Working those summer camps
Skip met Pete Gillen whom he would later follow to Xavier. There
he would establish himself as an outstanding coach. It struck me
as being funny that his coaching roots took him back to Notre
Dame, but he had never been back for a football weekend.
We spent a lot of time this summer talking about the rich
tradition and the pageantry that is Notre Dame football and Skip
was genuinely excited about being able to attend his first game.
Unfortunately that never happened.
It upsets me to think that Skip won’t be attending a Notre Dame
football game. He won’t be working the sidelines. He won’t be
taking the time to share a thought. But he will continue to make
a lot of people smile. He will continue to make a lot of people
laugh. He will remind all of us what is good about the coaching
profession.
The younger generation of coaches should take note of his style.
His was a refreshing style.
Only a handful of people will be able to say they saw Skip
Prosser coach his final game. It wasn’t in front of an audience
of millions in March. Instead it was in front of a small crowd
in a gym in the Persian Gulf.
And that’s exactly how Skip would have wanted it.
I feel privileged to have coached against Skip in that
championship game. His team won that day, but to suggest that he
went out a winner would be missing the point.
It
was May 28, 2007, the final day of Operation Hardwood IV. After
six days of competition, we are playing in the championship
game. It’s been an incredible week at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait
City, Kuwait. I am one of eight coaches that made the trip and
it has been a tremendous experience for all of us. 
