April 10, 2008

Award Website

BOSTON - After leading Notre Dame to another outstanding campaign, Fighting Irish head coach Mike Brey has been selected as the recipient of the inaugural Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award.

"This is an amazing honor and I am extremely flattered to receive the first Skip Prosser Award," said Brey. "It is so important to remember Skip and the way he carried himself as a coach. He was the type of man you wanted your son to play for. He embodied everything that is good about college basketball."

The award, which is named in memory of former Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser who passed away suddenly on July 26, 2007, will be given annually to the division I head coach who best represents the high standards of the coaching profession. Winning with integrity.

The Skip Prosser Award is voted on by a 21-member selection panel, which includes current and former head coaches, athletic administrators and media members, including ESPN analyst and longtime friend, Jay Bilas.

"This award is the perfect way to honor Skip and the principles he lived every day, and to honor the coaches that share those values and live them every day," Bilas says. "He respected the game and all that played it, and always had things in the proper perspective. Skip Prosser was one of the good guys, and he would be the first to say that he was not alone there."

Picked ninth in the Big East, Brey led Notre Dame to a second place finish with a 14-4 conference record. That 14 conference wins are the most for the Irish since joining the Big East (1995-96). Overall, Notre Dame finished 25-8, which was one victory short of the school record for wins set in 1973-74, when they went 26-3.

"We could not be more excited to have coach Brey win the inaugural Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award, says Mark Prosser, an assistant at Bucknell University and son of the late Skip Prosser. "Coach Brey is a man of great integrity that continues to succeed with student athletes that conduct themselves with high moral character, and it just so happens that he was a great friend of my father. We are truly honored to have coach Mike Brey accept this award."

Brey was one of ten finalists for the award, which include Rick Byrd (Belmont), Seth Greenberg (Virginia Tech), Frank Haith (Miami), Trent Johnson (Stanford), Bob McKillop (Davidson), Sean Miller (Xavier), Matt Painter (Purdue), Bo Ryan (Wisconsin) and Gary Waters (Cleveland State).

The Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award was established by CollegeInsider.com and the Prosser family.

Release courtesy of CollegeInsider.com