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© St. Petersburg Times, published April 12, 2003
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Skip Prosser turned down overtures to coach Pittsburgh, signing a 10-year contract Friday to stay with Wake Forest.
Prosser was the top choice of the Panthers to succeed Ben Howland, who left last week to coach UCLA. Pittsburgh gave Prosser, the ACC Coach of the Year, until Friday afternoon to say if he was interested in the job.
Support for Prosser at Wake grew each day. Students chanted for him outside his office Thursday, and he received a bunch of supportive e-mails.
"The players, the students, the Wake Forest family have been wonderful," Prosser said. "The outpouring over the last few days was something that wasn't solicited, but couldn't help but make an extremely positive impression."
Prosser thought about returning to his hometown of Pittsburgh, but said it would be too hard to leave his players. The Demon Deacons finished 25-6 this season and won their first outright ACC title in 41 years. Details of his contract were not disclosed.
AGGIE FACES JAIL TIME: Texas A&M junior Andy Slocum was sentenced to 90 days in jail after pleading no contest to steroid possession charges. Slocum -- not related to former Aggies football coach R.C. Slocum -- will begin serving his term June 2. Slocum was arrested Jan. 18 when police found a bag of syringes and vials in his truck. Slocum was placed on a year's probation, must pay a $500 fine and perform 50 hours of community service.
SMITH CONSIDERS EXTENSION: Kentucky's Tubby Smith is considering an incentive-laden contract extension, Louisville's Courier-Journal reported. "It's not a matter of negotiations. I just need to sit down and look at it," said Smith, who was in Atlanta to accept the James Naismith Award as national coach of the year. Smith's current contract pays him $1.5-million annually through 2006-07.
S.C. STATE: Former assistant Ben Betts was hired as coach. Betts, an assistant at Virginia Commonwealth, was an assistant seven seasons under former Bulldogs coach Cy Alexander, who left two weeks ago to coach Tennessee State.
DRAKE: Kurt Kanaskie resigned as coach after seven seasons. He had a 62-136 record, and his .313 winning percentage is worst among the school's 16 fulltime coaches since 1917-18. The Bulldogs finished 10-20 and 9-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
UNLV: Forward Omari Pearson, a 6-foot-9, 220-pound junior who averaged 3.7 points and 2.4 rebounds, left the team.
WOMEN: Wichita State hired Jane Albright, who was 161-107 in nine seasons at Wisconsin, as coach. Albright replaces Darryl Smith, who was fired after going 74-68 in five seasons.