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Role Model: Brey says Prosser coached right way
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Published: July 26, 2008
Skip Prosser has been on Mike Brey's mind a lot lately, as the one-year anniversary of Prosser's death drew closer.
Brey, the basketball coach at Notre Dame and the recipient of the first Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award, spent time reflecting on Prosser recently during a vacation to the Delaware coast.
Then, when one of his assistants phoned with an itinerary for the rest of this month, Brey invoked what coaches are now calling the "Skip Prosser Rule."
Brey needed to fly from Las Vegas, the site of a tournament this week featuring top recruits, to Orlando, Fla., the site of the national AAU Senior Boys Tournament and 17-under Super Showcase.
In essence, the "Skip Prosser Rule" reminds coaches to be mindful of their health.
"One of my assistants said, ‘We can put you on a red-eye to Orlando Thursday, and then you could cover two days,'" Brey said. "And I said, ‘Skip Prosser Rule.' I'm not taking any more red-eyes. And I meant it seriously. And my assistant was like, ‘Good point, Mike. That's a good point.'
"I said, ‘I'll go to Orlando. I'll fly Thursday like a normal day, but I'm not doing any red-eyes, the Skip rule. I think everybody now comes into this period, head coaches especially, thinking, ‘Let's not be crazy with the travel situation.' We'll catch up with the kids we need to see eventually, but let's not be nuts about it."
Prosser's legacy in the coaching profession won't be the Skip Prosser Rule, though.
To Brey, Prosser's greatest contribution was that he embodied what coaching is supposed to be about.
"He's a role model for young coaches about being in it for the right reasons," Brey said. "He was a guy who was so real and down to earth. I think a lot of young guys in the business need more guys like Skip as an example.
"I think some young coaches get into it for the wrong reasons, or are not themselves maybe when they become head coaches. Skip's a great reminder of remembering where you came from and not changing, and while he was living, he was certainly a powerful example of that. And I think more light has been shed on that since he passed last year."
Brey received the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award -- selected by a 21-member panel that includes Prosser family members -- at this year's Final Four in San Antonio. It was established in part by the Prosser family and it is given to the Division I head coach who best represents the high standards of the coaching profession and "winning with integrity."
Brey said that he has become closer to Mark Prosser, one of Skip's sons and an assistant at Wofford, in the past year.
"Mark and I had breakfast at the Final Four, and he just kind of slid the crystal thing across the table," Brey said of his award. "I said, ‘You know what we should do with this? Next year, it'll be somebody else, and you and I should just go have a beer in an Irish bar and make the presentation wherever the Final Four is. Because that's the way Skip would have wanted it.' That's how we should do this."
Brey said he would always feel "joined at the hip" to Skip Prosser because of the award and because of the friendship they had maintained before Prosser's death. They and other coaches flew to Kuwait in May 2007 to visit military bases as part of Operation Hardwood.
Prosser's team beat Brey's team in the championship game.
"That was the last game he played," Brey said. "He kicked my butt, and they won the championship in the last game he coached. I have been thinking about that during this period. I have thought about him a lot."
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