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April
3, 2009
ED CONROY
RECIPIENT OF THE SKIP PROSSER AWARD
THE 2009 AWARD:
Check out the 2009 Award
presented to Ed Conroy
ORIGIN OF THE AWARD:
Skip Prosser Award Established
MORE
INFORMATION:
Skip Prosser Biography
(PDF)
 BOSTON
(MA) -- After leading The Citadel to one of its best
season in school history, Ed Conroy has been named the
winner of the 2009 Skip Prosser Man of the Year award.
Conroy led the Bulldogs to the most conference
victories in the program's history (15-5) and The
Citadel posted the most Division I games in school
history (20-13). He led his team to the program’s
first-ever postseason appearance when they faced Old
Dominion in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason
Tournament.
Going from one conference win last season to 15 this
season, the Bulldogs had the largest one-year
conference turnaround in program history and the
largest one-year turnaround in Southern Conference
history. With 20 victories this season, the Bulldogs
have the largest one-year turnaround in program
history, going from six wins last season.
“I am flattered and humbled to receive the second Skip
Prosser Man of the Year award,” says Conroy. “To be
mentioned in any way with Skip Prosser is an amazing
honor. The award is a great way to honor and remember
what Skip stood for; his ability to teach, his
perspective, his priorities and most importantly, the
way he valued his relationships with his players and
everyone he came in contact with. As soon as you met
Skip for the first time, you knew you were in the
presence of a friend.”
The Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award is given
annually to a division I head coach who best represent
the high standards of the coaching profession. Winning
with integrity.
The award is named in memory of former Wake Forest
head coach Skip Prosser who passed away suddenly on
July 26, 2007.
Skip Prosser posted a career record of 291-146 (.666)
in 14 seasons as a head coach. At Wake Forest,
Prosser’s teams averaged 21 wins per season while
playing in arguably the nation’s most difficult
league, the Atlantic Coast Conference. Prosser, whose
record with the Demon Deacons was 126-68 (.649), won
100 games at an ACC school quicker than all but two
coaches in the 54-year history of the conference.
Before arriving at Wake Forest prior to the 2001-02
season, Prosser enjoyed highly-successful stints at
Loyola (Md.) for one season and at Xavier for seven
seasons. Prosser is the only coach in NCAA history to
take three different schools to the NCAA Tournament in
his first season at each of those schools.
But his biggest impact could not be measured in
victories.
Coach Prosser embraced Wake Forest's academic
standards and stressed performance in the classroom by
his players. Every senior that he coached at Wake
Forest earned his diploma in four years.
“Coach Conroy has done an incredible job this season
and is very deserving of this award,” says Mark
Prosser, an assistant coach at Wofford and son of the
late Skip Prosser. “Coach Conroy represents everything
that this award is about.”
The finalists for the 2009 award were Jim Calhoun
(Connecticut), Jeff Capel (Oklahoma), ED CONROY,
Ed DeChellis (Penn State), Jamie Dixon
(Pittsburgh), Dino Gaudio (Wake Forest), Tom Izzo
(Michigan State), Trent Johnson (LSU), Lon Kruger (UNLV),
Billy Lange (Navy), Stew Morrill (Utah State) and
Bruce Weber (Illinois).
The Skip Prosser Man of the Year award was established
by CollegeInsider.com and the Prosser family.
The winner of the inaugural award was Notre Dame’s
Mike Brey.
SKIP PROSSER MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD SELECTION
COMMITTEE
Jay Bilas (ESPN College Basketball Analyst)
Mike Bobinski (Director of Athletics, Xavier)
Joe Boylan (Director of Athletics, Loyola College)
Chris Carlin (Sports Talk Host, WFAN Radio)
Dave Cottle (Head Men's Lacrosse Coach, University of
Maryland)
Ed DeChellis (Head Men's Basketball Coach, Penn State
University)
Matt Drake (Senior Analyst, CollegeInsider.com)
Joe Dwyer (Co-Founder, CollegeInsider.com)
Fran Fraschilla (ESPN College Basketball Analyst)
Dino Gaudio (Head Men's Basketball Coach, Wake Forest
University)
Brad Holland (Assistant Men's Basketball, University
of Cal Santa Barbara)
Angela Lento (Co-Founder, CollegeInsider.com)
Kyle Macy (Former Head Men's Basketball Coach Morehead
State University)
Dave Magarity (Head Women's Basketball Coach, West
Point)
Reggie Minton (Deputy Executive Director, National
Association of Basketball Coaches)
Mark Prosser (Associate Head Coach, Wofford
University)
Mark Schmidt (Head Men's Basketball Coach, St.
Bonaventure University)
Steve Shutt (Assistant Athletic Director, Wake Forest
University)
Ron Wellman (Director of Athletics, Wake Forest
University)
Dave Wojcok (Associate Head Men's Basketball Coach
Tulsa University)
Doug Wojcik (Head Men's Basketball Coach, Tulsa
University)
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