BOSTON, Mass. – Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg is taking part in the “Shots from the Heart” campaign, a function of the Skip Prosser Foundation and CollegeInsider.com in effort to generate more awareness for the growing problem of heart disease during the 2011-12 season.
Joining Coach Greenberg is a large group of collegiate coaches including John Beilein of Michigan, Mike Brey of Notre Dame, Johnny Dawkins of Stanford, Matt Doherty of SMU, Steve Donahue of Boston College, Travis Ford of Oklahoma State, Mark Gottfried of NC State, Anthony Grant of Alabama, Jim Larranaga of Miami, Sean Miller of Arizona, Josh Pastner of Memphis, Buzz Peterson of UNC Wilmington, Bill Self of Kansas, Brad Stevens of Butler and Bruce Weber of Illinois that will compete in the free-throw shooting contest to help raise awareness for the growing problem of heart disease.
Greenberg will compete against Phil Martelli of St. Joseph’s University in the opening round. The winner of that match-up will battle the winner of Chris Mack of Xavier and Bruiser Flint of Drexel.
The event, which also includes a tournament for assistant coaches, will benefit the Skip Prosser Foundation. The former Wake Forest head coach passed away on July 26, 2007 of a heart attack.
“I am honored to be involved in this event and to be part of the Skip Prosser Foundation,” Greenberg said. “We have all been touched by heart disease in one way or another and this is a great way in which to create awareness and educate people of this crippling and potentially fatal condition. It’s also a way to carry on the legacy of Skip Prosser who was a great friend to the coaching profession.”
Coaches will not have to actually compete against each other on the same court. Each coach will shoot 25 free throws at his convenience. A member of the athletic department will tally the results and the coach with the most makes would advance. Shots 1-10 are worth one point, 11-15 are worth two points, 16-20 are worth three points, 21-24 are worth four points and shot 25 is worth five points.
“The idea was to create awareness for heart disease through competition,” CollegeInsider.com co-founder Angela Lento said. “We wanted to create something that coaches could have fun with. The fun but competitive nature of this event is something that I am sure coach Prosser would have enjoyed.”
The American Heart Association is also part of the event and is one of the beneficiaries of the Skip Prosser Foundation, which was established in 2011.
Skip Prosser spent 21 years as collegiate head coach at Loyola (MD), Xavier and Wake Forest. He made 18 postseason appearances and is the only coach in NCAA history to take three separate schools to the NCAA Tournament in his first year coaching the teams. In 2008, CollegeInsider.com created the Skip Prosser Man of
the Year Award, which is given annually to the coach who not only achieves success on the basketball court but who also displays moral integrity off the court as well.
Fans can follow the season-long event at www.collegeinsider.com/shots.
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