July 24, 2008
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -
Wake Forest head coach Dino Gaudio and senior guard Harvey Hale spoke with the media via teleconference on Thursday afternoon. Gaudio and Hale fielded questions regarding the upcoming one-year anniversary of the passing of Skip Prosser.
Prosser, who spent six seasons at the helm of the Demon Deacon basketball program, passed away from an apparent heart attack on July 26, 2007.
Teleconference quotes from Gaudio and Hale are below.
Head Coach Dino Gaudio
On Skip Prosser...
"Like I said at his funeral, I didn't know a better man. He treated everybody the same. He kept his common touch. He was just a freshman coach 30 years ago, and he had that same mentality. He never walked around like he was better than anybody. He befriended presidents of universities and politicians, as well the ladies that work in the cafeteria and Dennis the mailman at Wake Forest. He just treated everybody the same. That's really what made him special. He had tremendous values, and he tried to share those values with the kids and everybody else he ran into."
On Skip's definition of success...
"I think Skip's definition of successful goes way beyond basketball. He knew how important kids getting their degrees was and being successful in whatever they did. He talked a lot about what no one ever saw...being a good parent, being a good husband. I think that's all encompassing when you talk about being successful.
On what he would tell Skip about last season...
I would tell him that he would be proud of these kids because of how hard they worked and how mentally tough they were throughout difficult times. Those are the important things to Skip. Playing hard and being tough. I think those other things were by-products of that. He would be very proud of how well this team did do defensively. I think he would be very proud of us beating Duke. Skip was a practice guy--practice meant everything to him. He thought games were won in practice. He felt like the kids had to come and work hard every day. Those are the things he would be proud of. Those other two things--Harvey's right, he'd be proud of those. But those are by-products of the others."
*Harvey Hale told the media that Skip would have been proud of the team for playing good defense and for beating Duke.
On the support from the coaching community...
"It's amazing how many people he (Skip) touched. The support we received has been incredible. For me, throughout the year the calls that I got from everybody...it doesn't matter what their stature is. [I received] literally hundreds of calls of support. Like I say all the time, the thing that made this so doable and bearable was the support we got from the University, the city of Winston-Salem--and the whole state for that matter--they sort of wrapped their arms around this team and the program. I tell people all the time that Wake Forest has a gorgeous campus and a beautiful arena, but that's not what makes this place special. The thing that makes this place special is the people. You find that out when you go through difficult times like we did."
On Coach Prosser appearing younger than he actually was...
"He had vibrancy about him. He was always upbeat. He was always positive. He was always cracking a joke. His energy level was incredibly high. He was incredibly positive. I think when you have someone like that, you just appear to be younger. He was enthusiastic. He did have a high energy level. His motor ran high. There's no question, there were a lot of people who were surprised when they found out how old he was."
On the three freshmen being connected to Coach Prosser...
"Skip recruited those guys, and they committed to Wake Forest when Skip was here. He deserves all the credit for those guys. We were able to retain them. Any success we have is directly attributed to Skip. He mentored me. When I first got in contact with him, I was 22 years old right out of college. I'm 51 now. Jeff Battle was with him for 12 years. Pat Kelsey, he coached. Every player in this program, he recruited and had a hand in their development and their recruitment. I just try to be myself and I put my stamp on this program by what we do every day from three o'clock to six o'clock in practice. Anybody that's been around us knows that Skip and I have very different personalities. I never feel uncomfortable talking about him because I wouldn't be where I was if it wasn't for Skip. But I have to be myself with our team. Those kids have handled the situation very well. He'd be proud of him."
On being ranked in the preseason polls...
"I feel good about it. I showed our kids one poll that has us top 20, one poll has us third in the ACC. I think that's great, but those guys aren't always right. Last year they had us last in the league, and they weren't right. We don't want to be third in the ACC; we want to be first. We don't want to be top 20; we want to be in the Final Four. That's our mindset. I bumped into Andy Katz the other day, he asked `Did I put some pressure on you?'. And I told him not at all. I don't mind that at all. I'll tell you what pressure is. Pressure is coaching at Army when you're 300th in the RPI in the country. That's pressure. When in the summer, everybody's kids are playing in summer leagues and your guys are out in the field with backpacks on and boots, shooting M-16s instead of jump shots. That's pressure. I hope they pick us first--that doesn't bother me one bit. I'd rather have that than the other."
Senior guard Harvey Hale
On thinking about Coach Prosser as the one-year anniversary of his death approaches...
"A lot of things gradually smoothed out. I hadn't really thought about it, but as the time got closer and closer you started remembering this is when it happened. And then you start feeling down a little bit, but you just have to think about how tough Coach wants you to be. And that's all I think about because Coach is really big on that, especially with me--just being tough and try to be a leader. That's what I'm trying to do right now."
On Coach Prosser's funeral...
"It was cathartic. That was probably the first funeral I had ever been too, especially losing someone like Coach Prosser. So I was already in awe and I wasn't alone in that feeling. A lot of guys said that was their first funeral also. Seeing a coach that recruited you and went through blood, sweat and tears in practice and the season--a guy that you really love--and you see him in the casket. That's what made us really cry and feel the tension. Guys started wrapping their arms around each other, and it did make us a lot closer. It was just amazing how guys stepped up in being leaders and grew up. It did a lot of things for our team. There was nothing someone can give us that we can't handle."
On what the team is doing to remember Coach Prosser...
"We're having a dinner and will probably reminisce and do some things as a team. We didn't want to have everybody just around. We talked about going out to eat and getting some dinner as a team. Everyone gets dressed up and do that for Coach...have a little memorial for him at the dinner. Hopefully that will be good. I heard some people were doing some stuff tomorrow (Friday) at the Quad, in terms of the community. This community is a great community. We have great people that love Coach Prosser, people that love Wake Forest. When people wrap their arms around each other and really care about Coach, care about you, it makes things a lot easier. We're lucky for that."
On if there are things he took for granted with Coach Prosser...
"He did a lot of little things that people didn't realize he did. The calls he'd give me and ask me if I'm working hard. Or just joking around with me. I took that for granted. He really made me a better player and a better person and who I am today. And I took that for granted. He always told me when I stop yelling at you that's when you should worry. That's what I took for granted--him getting on me and pushing me and letting me play to my highest potential."
On if he had five minutes with Coach Prosser how he would describe last season to him...
"I would be just like `Coach, we kind of let you down this year because we wanted to do it for you. We tried to dedicate this season for you, Coach. I felt like we had a good year, but it could have been a lot better. We had some high points, and we had some low points. Guys really stepped up. We had some really good freshmen that you recruited. The team really came together--you would have been proud of us. Guys really became tough. That tough-minded you wanted guys to be, that's who we were this year. One thing we did, Coach, is we played defense. When I was with you, Coach, we really didn't guard anybody.' He'd be happy, and he'd probably start laughing."
On if Coach Prosser's distaste for losing rubbed off on the players...
"Of course it rubbed off. When we won, you wouldn't really know when we won. It was just a `W' for Coach. It was `OK, we won. That's it.' But when we lose, Coach Prosser storms in and isn't the same person. He makes us practice longer. He changes into another person because he hates losing. He loves to win, but he hates to lose."
On what he would take away from Wake Forest that he learned from Skip Prosser...
"Just striving to be successful. He was really big on that. He wanted us to be really successful. That's why I think he pushed us so much in the classroom."
On if he got sick of basketball after Coach Prosser's death...
"It made us love basketball even more. When Coach died, all of the ex-basketball players at Wake Forest came a little earlier to the funeral. For several days, guys were coming to the Miller Center and playing pickup. It was probably one of the best pickups I've ever had. Guys were being really competitive. Guys were playing until about one or two in the morning. We were just hooping, taking our anger out on basketball and just playing. I think it's something Coach would have loved us doing. We started loving the game even more."
