Veteran Wake Forest coach Prosser dies at 56.

Skip Prosser, Wake Forest’s basketball coach, died Thursday of an apparent heart attack. He was 56.

Director of Basketball Operations Mike Muse discovered Prosser slumped on his office couch and unresponsive shortly after returning from a noon jog, according to athletics director Ron Wellman. Medical personnel performed CPR and used a defibrillator on Prosser, who was transported to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and pronounced dead at 1:41 p.m.

During a news conference Thursday night, Wellman stated that he was unaware of Prosser’s previous health issues and called his death “a devastating loss.”.

“Because of his strength, we’ll be able to go on and we’ll be just fine eventually,” Wellman went on to say. “We are not right now. “We are all suffering right now.”

Prosser was in Orlando, Fla., earlier this week for an AAU national tournament and had lunch Wednesday with South Carolina coach Dave Odom, his Wake Forest predecessor.

Mark Prosser, Skip Prosser’s son and a Bucknell assistant coach, received a phone call around 2:40 p.m. ET today while watching games at the Milkhouse in Orlando. He exited the gym immediately.

Prosser joined Wake Forest in 2001 after seven seasons at Xavier, during which he led the team to five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. He spent one season coaching at Loyola (Md.) in 1993–94.

David West, a New Orleans Hornets forward who played at Xavier from 1999 to 2003, expressed his sadness following Prosser’s death.

“Coach Prosser gave me a chance at Xavier.

David West, a New Orleans Hornets forward who played at Xavier from 1999 to 2003, expressed his sadness following Prosser’s death.

“Coach Prosser gave me a chance at Xavier when I came out of high school; he saw what other coaches didn’t and I will forever owe him,” West said in an email. “He never let me down and taught me to focus on the big picture while doing the little things to improve every aspect of my life. He was an excellent coach, leader, and friend to me and will be greatly missed.”