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.
McMahon and the Racers wrapped up their second-consecutive Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship over the weekend at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. The Racers are 27-4 and qualified for the program's 17th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Racers are waiting to hear their name called on Selection Sunday when the field of teams is announced.
McMahon, in his fourth season at MSU, has produced an outstanding culture within the Racer Basketball team where integrity and character are the main parts of the foundation that everything else plays off of.
Coach Skip Prosser was well known and respected by his peers in college basketball and after his death in 2007, CollegeInsider.com created an award in his honor. The first award went to Mike Brey of Notre Dame in 2008.
In six years with the Deacons, Prosser posted a 126-68 record. For his career, he was 291-146 in 14 seasons including six as the head coach at Xavier and one year at Loyola (Md.). At Wake Forest, Prosser's teams averaged 21 wins per season while playing in arguably the nation's most difficult league, the Atlantic Coast Conference. Prosser won 100 games at an ACC school quicker than all but two coaches in the 55-year history of the conference. He coached NBA stars Chris Paul and Josh Howard, led the Demon Deacons to the first No. 1 national ranking in school history and earned ACC Coach of the Year honors in 2003.
The OVC is honored to have two coaches on the list as Coach McMahon is joined by Belmont's Rick Byrd.
McMahon was nominated for the Prosser Award a year ago and former MSU coach Billy Kennedy was on the finalist list in 2010.
The recipient of the 2019 Skip Prosser award will be announced on April 5 at the College Insider Awards Event, in Minneapolis, site of the 2019 NCAA division I basketball championship.
2019 SKIP PROSSER AWARD FINALISTS
Casey Alexander, Lipscomb
Tommy Amaker, Harvard
Rick Byrd, Belmont
Johnny Dawkins, UCF
Fran Dunphy, Temple
Steve Forbes, ETSU
Joe Golding, Abilene Christian
Earl Grant, Charleston
Jason Hooten, Sam Houston State
Michael Huger, Bowling Green
Donte' Jackson, Grambling
James Jones, Yale
Mike Jones, Radford
Robert Jones, Norfolk State
Jay Joyner, North Carolina A&T
Danny Kaspar, Texas State
Rob Krimmel, Saint Francis PA
Matt McMahon, Murray State
Joe Mihalich, Hofstra
Nate Oats, Buffalo
Ryan Odom, UMBC
Matt Painer, Purdue
Doc Sadler, Southern Miss
Bruce Weber, Kansas State
Mike Young, Wofford
SKIP PROSSER AWARD HISTORY
2018: Casey Alexander, Lipscomb
2017: Danny Manning, Wake Forest
2016: Zack Spiker, Army
2015: Keno Davis, Central Michigan
2014: Brian Wardle, Green Bay
2013: Joe Mihalich, Niagara
2012: Jimmy Patsos, Loyola MD
2011: Chris Mack, Xavier
2010: Bob Marlin, Sam Houston State
2009: Ed Conroy, The Citadel
2008: Mike Brey, Notre Dame
