Skip Prosser was a tremendous person.

SHUTTLE RIDE IN SAN ANTONIO

July, 30, 2007

Skip Prosser was more then just a coach.

It’s funny how you remember certain days vividly. Moments, which at the time don’t seem very significant, but for some reason they stand out years later.

It was March 30, 1998. Kentucky was just hours away from its seventh National Championship. I don’t recall much about the actual win over Utah, but I do remember that ride to the Alamodome.

I was preparing to head over to the game with then Marist head coach Dave Magarity, but Magarity had forgotten something in his room. He spotted a familiar face on the shuttle and said, “Just get on the shuttle with Skip and I’ll see you over there.”

Skip was of course Magarity’s longtime friend, Skip Prosser. He had just taken Xavier to its third NCAA tournament in four seasons and his son Mark was on his way to Marist to play for Magarity. The two had been friends since Magarity first took over the program at Marist, back in 1987.

Magarity talks often about many of his friends and their accomplishments in coaching, but he has always reserved the highest praise for Prosser.

“He was a tremendous person,” says Magarity. “You always hear people say that he or she was a great coach, but a better person. Well that really applied to Skip. He was an outstanding coach and teacher, but he was a better husband and father. He was just a quality person.”

Prosser helped Magarity to land, Bobby Reasback, his first-ever recruit at Marist. Prosser, who coached Reasback at Wheeling Catholic (West Virginia), had since moved onto to take an assistant coaching position with Pete Gillen at Xavier. It would have been easy to focus solely on his new position, but he played a major role in helping Magarity bring Reasback to Poughkeepsie, NY.

It was the start of a great friendship, which would reach another level just over a decade later when Prosser talked to Magarity about having his son, Mark, enroll at Marist.

“I was really honored,” says Magarity. “[Mark] could have gone and played at a lot of schools, but Skip wanted him to play for me. That meant a lot.”

For me that shuttle ride in 1998 also meant a lot. The idea was to act as though I was supposed to be on the designated ‘coaches only’ NABC shuttle. I had spoken to coach Prosser a few times during the season, but those were pretty informal chats, getting little tidbits on the Musketeers. I planned to introduce myself but Prosser spoke first.

“You know Dave Magarity,” he asked.

I said yes and he chuckled. “He’s quite an individual,” said Prosser. He then went on to ask me a few questions about college insider. At the time I assumed he was just being polite, but now I know better.

That was who he was. He took a genuine interest in others. Sure it helped that we shared a common thread in Magarity, but most people would have just said hello and left it at that.

“Skip always had time for everyone,” says Magarity. “He would never big time anybody.”

Let’s face it the college basketball landscape is dotted with people that only like the sound of their own voice. Skip Prosser liked to listen to others.

Over the years I only spoke with Prosser on a few occasions. But he always made time and he was always interested in what you were doing. We never became good friends, but for some reason I never forgot that five-minute shuttle ride in San Antonio.

I wish I knew more people like Skip Prosser.

Joe Dwyer is a editor-in-chief writer for collegeinsider.com. EMAIL JOE