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Smith continues to follow the path charted by Prosser
AP Photo
Wake Forest freshman Ty Walker has a tattoo in remembrance of Skip Prosser.
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Published: July 26, 2008
A year later, Ish Smith walks with a bounce in his step and a purpose in mind.
He wants to lead. Point guard Smith wants to run the Wake Forest team, a growing collection of improving talent infused with more optimism than doubt.
A year later, Smith regularly spends time in Coach Dino Gaudio's office, discussing basketball theory and watching basketball reality on videotape.
Smith started the routine last summer, visiting Coach Skip Prosser and beginning to understand the 56-year-old man behind the authoritarian's desk. Right in the midst of that discovery, Prosser died.
"It was a big shock to me," Smith said. "I was really getting his points when we sat in his office going into my sophomore season. When he passed away, I was like: ‘Wow, something was just taken away from me, my coach.' I was really getting to know him. I really loved him. Personally, I had heard of a couple of coaches passing away, but never somebody of that magnitude. Coach Prosser was known and loved all over the world. You say Skip Prosser, you knew who it was. From a personal standpoint, it was a huge blow to me, but I think things happen for a reason, and I know he was the same way."
Contemplating those reasons never seems to end. In the first phases of his grief, Smith chose to remain on campus rather than return home to Concord, which his mother, Gwen Smith, had proposed. Smith and teammate Anthony Gurley stayed pretty much to themselves, sharing their thoughts and pain.
"The thing I try to do -- always -- is get into the gym," Smith said. "That takes my mind away from everything. When Coach passed away, that's what I tried to do, but then I would start thinking: ‘This is why I'm here. Coach is why I'm here.' It even continued throughout the season. I remember the first game at Joel Coliseum. I thought I had gotten over it, but they put the banner down, and that was a blow. I was like: ‘Wow.' Then we'd play these road games. Carolina, Virginia Tech, Maryland -- I thank those schools for honoring our coach, but then that's when it really hits you. You're ready to go and then there's this moment of silence and you think: ‘It's because Coach isn't here.' But I know it's going to be always in the back of my mind. We'll never get over the loss, but as far as the emotions, that has declined, getting all our emotions out."
Time healed wounds, somewhat
Time and basketball softened the edge. The Deacons opened the season with an armful of questions and without a proven big man. Freshmen James Johnson and Jeff Teague emerged as the two strongest offensive threats. Chas McFarland, a 7-foot sophomore, delivered more than anyone expected. The parts fit some nights, and other nights they didn't.
Wake Forest's hopes for a potential NCAA invitation soared after Smith hit game-winning shots against Virginia Tech and Miami, after the Deacons finally got their first ACC road win at Florida State, after Johnson and Teague combined for 50 points in an 86-73 upset over No. 2 Duke.
The fantasies dissolved with four losses in five games, followed by a dismal 70-60 checkout against FSU in the ACC Tournament opener for a 17-13 record. The NIT didn't bother to call.
"I think those five games after the Duke game were a crushing blow to us," Smith said. "The bottom kind of fell through."
They had the spring and summer to think about renewal, with all the starters returning and a prominent freshman class arriving -- center Ty Walker, center Tony Woods and forward Al-Farouq Aminu.
"Tony is powerful, strong," Smith said. "He tries to dunk everything. Ty blocks everything. Farouq is probably one of the most talented basketball players I've seen at 6-9, to handle the ball as well as he can, his skills and footwork. Those guys really are as good as advertised. The greatest thing about them is that they really listen when I tell them different things. They're all ears, and the next possession, they're trying to do it."
Between the seasons, players often work on specific deficiencies. Smith's assignment was automatic. While averaging 8.6 points and 4.7 assists last season, Smith hit 43 percent of his field-goal attempts, 34 percent of his 3-point shots and 29 percent of his free throws (16 of 55).
His foul shooting, which wouldn't pass muster in the peewee league, dropped Wake Forest's success rate to 66.5 percent, No. 11 in the ACC and No. 252 in Division I.
New approach
Assistant coach Pat Kelsey enlisted his brother-in-law, Paul Cluxton, who happens to hold the NCAA Division II record for career free-throw accuracy (93.5 percent). Cluxton converted all 94 free throws in 1996-97, his senior year at Northern Kentucky.
Smith adopted Cluxton's suggestion that he shoot foul shots with the same upper-body motion as his jumpers. Smith fixed his routine: one dribble, followed by two or three seconds of concentration, a fluid shot and follow through.
"I'm shooting 200 a day," Smith said. "The good thing about it is -- as I joke around with my mom -- it can't get any worse. I feel more relaxed now because I'm shooting so many of them."
Smith also eats more healthy foods than ever, trying to get stronger and raise his weight to 175 or 180. He weighed 155 when he enrolled and 170 last week.
Mostly, though, Smith wants to accelerate Gaudio's pursuit of greater progress through better chemistry. Gaudio assembled the old and new players for an introductory lecture in early July. Smith's interpretation: This could be one of Wake Forest's most talented groups, with unlimited potential, if everything blends together.
"We've got size and speed and combinations of all these great things," Smith said. "These guys are gym rats, all three freshmen and the whole team. I remember my freshman year, it was almost like pulling teeth when I'd tell guys: ‘Let's play.' These guys are willing, and they're there. It's fun. It's good, because I love the gym. There's no place I'd rather be."
Prosser cultivated that attitude. He also tried to turn Smith's raw enthusiasm into the polished product.
"I think about him and wish he could see the improvement in my game," Smith said. "I wish he could see some of the strides I took from when I first came. He'd say: ‘Ish can make some of the greatest passes I've ever seen, and the next possession he throws it to a lady sitting in the first row.' I wish he could see some of the strides I'm making now in leadership. I do think about him. From time to time, I'll ride in my car and just think about what he meant to me. Then it hits me that he's gone."
A year later, Smith's road goes on, just like Coach said.
■ Lenox Rawlings can be reached at lrawlings@wsjournal.com.
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