Kelsey named a finalist for Skip Prosser award

The finalists for the 2016 Skip Prosser award were announced on Wednesday and the list includes Winthrop coach Pat Kelsey.

Named after the late Skip Prosser, who died suddenly in 2007 while the head coach at Wake Forest, the award is presented annually to those who not only achieve success on the basketball court but who also display moral integrity off of it as well.

Skip Prosser posted a career record of 291-146 in 14 seasons as a head coach at Loyola, Xavier and Wake Forest. During his time at Wake, Prosser’s teams averaged 21 wins per season while playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Kelsey played for Prosser at Xavier from 1995 to 1998. He spent three years as Prosser’s director of basketball operations at Wake Forest, before joining the coaching staff in 2004. Skip Prosser’s son, Mark, is Kelsey’s lead assistant at Winthrop.

The 2016 recipient will be announced on Monday April 4 in Houston, site of the men's NCAA division I men's basketball championship. Central Michigan coach Keno Davis won the award in 2015.

2016 SKIP PROSSER AWARD FINALISTS

Tony Bennett, Virginia

Scott Cross, UT Arlington

Jim Engles, NJIT

Steve Fisher, San Diego State

Mitch Henderson, Princeton

Chris Holtmann, Butler

Jason Hooten, Sam Houston State

Bob Huggins, West Virginia

Sydney Johnson, Fairfield

James Jones, Yale

Pat Kelsey, Winthrop

Billy Kennedy, Texas A&M

Jim Larranaga, Miami

Phil Martelli, Saint Joseph's

Bob Marlin, UL Lafayette

Frank Martin, South Carolina

Matt Painter, Purdue

Kyle Smith, Columbia

Zack Spiker, Army

Russell Turner, UC Irvine

Brad Underwood, Stephen F. Austin

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Kelsey named a finalist for Skip Prosser award."