Aug. 10, 2007

By Bill Hass
theACC.com

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - No one knows better than Dino Gaudio what Skip Prosser meant as his closest friend, the best man at his wedding and the godfather of his youngest daughter.

No one knows better than Dino Gaudio what Prosser meant to Wake Forest in a scope far beyond the title of head basketball coach.

No one knows better than Dino Gaudio how difficult it will be to follow in the footsteps of Prosser, who died so unexpectedly just over two weeks ago.

And yet, perhaps no one is better suited to assume the duties of leading the Deacon basketball program in these trying times than Dino Gaudio, who on Wednesday was named Prosser's successor.

"I'm absolutely ready for it all," Gaudio said. "I'm very prepared; I've been doing this (coaching) for 26 years now. I've been in a head coach mindset since 1986.

"I feel very comfortable talking with the kids, on the practice floor, with game management and in these situations (press conferences). The biggest things are recruiting good players and winning basketball games and graduating our guys, and I know we can do that."

Gaudio can thank his mentor for instilling that feeling. Prosser gave his assistant coaches considerable latitude and responsibility. During a time out, Gaudio was never hesitant about expressing his opinion, and if Prosser liked the idea, he would let Gaudio implement it.

"I thought, acted and reacted like a head coach," Gaudio said. "He put a lot of trust and a lot of responsibility in me, and I was very comfortable with that. I'd say `why don't we run (a certain play)', he'd say `go tell them' and I'd sit in the huddle and I'd draw up the play. He knew I would do a good job.

"I don't know anywhere in the country where the assistant is going in the huddle and telling them what to run. So in my mindset, I was always a head coach. I feel very comfortable in that role."

Wake athletics director Ron Wellman quickly came to the same conclusion after a four-hour conversation with Gaudio on Monday about every aspect of Deacon basketball. The next day, when they talked again, Gaudio accepted a five-year contract.

Wellman said he was struck by Gaudio's vision for returning the program to an ACC contender and how to execute it, by the way Gaudio considers coaching to be teaching, and by Gaudio's passions for winning and for the university.

Wellman discarded the idea of an "interim" label because that brands a coach as a lame duck and hamstrings his ability to recruit. The other options were bringing in an external candidate who would want his own staff, or an external candidate who would be mandated to work with the existing staff. Neither of those was palatable.

In a different time, the Deacons' other associate head coach, Jeff Battle, would also have been considered. But Battle told Wellman that, because of his wife's health, he could not serve his family or the players well as the head coach.

So hiring Gaudio was a decision made in the best interests of the basketball program and the school. It should accelerate the healing process and, as a byproduct, help maintain continuity.

"It's huge," said point guard Ish Smith, who will be a sophomore and the team catalyst this season. "The guys wanted somebody in the family. But like Mr. Wellman said, he made the decision not because of the continuity, not because of the emotion, but because coach Gaudio is a great coach."

Prosser's core beliefs and values, and much of his basketball system, will continue as the foundation for Wake Forest basketball, and what this coaching staff accomplishes will be seen as part of his legacy.

But don't be lulled into thinking Gaudio is a Skip Prosser clone. Yes, there are similarities. But Gaudio believes in being his own man, which shows in his sartorial splendor. He has long been the most sharp-dressed assistant coach in the ACC. On a day when the temperature hit triple digits, Gaudio attended his press conference in a three-piece gray pinstripe suit with the vest fully buttoned. That prompted Wellman to joke that vests were part of a new dress code.

Gaudio is no stranger to this role. He has been a collegiate head coach at Army and at Loyola of Maryland. In today's coaching world, his winning percentage of .354 probably wouldn't land him many interviews. But Wellman looked beyond that, knowing full well the difficulties in winning at either of those schools.

Gaudio called those jobs "the greatest challenges and the best experiences" of his coaching career, helping to prepare him for what lies ahead at Wake Forest.

So what can players and fans expect from this coach?

"He brings tremendous intensity, he brings fire, he brings knowing the game and what to run," said junior guard Harvey Hale. "The players want to know who's in charge, who they can count on. We know we can count on coach Gaudio because he has been here for us."

Assistant coach Pat Kelsey said Prosser would be the first to tell people that he owed a lot of his success to Gaudio's recruiting, ideas and developing big men.

"I think the thing that amazes me about him is what an extraordinary strategist he is," Kelsey said. "There's not a better guy in the country than that."

As far as the way Wake plays, Gaudio may rein things in a bit. Prosser used to say that the older he got, the faster he liked his teams to play. Gaudio understands the wisdom in being able to execute a half-court offense as well as pushing the ball when the opportunities are there. In addition, one reason the Deacons fell to a combined record of 8-24 in ACC games the past two seasons was inconsistency on defense.

"We weren't as good as we needed to be defensively the last couple of years and I'm partly to blame for that," Gaudio said. "We're going to try to do our very, very best to be a little bit more focused (and place) more emphasis on that side of the ball. I really believe that if we're going to win championships like we want to win here, we're going to have to do it on that side of the ball."

Ish Smith seconded that notion.

"I'm telling you, coach Gaudio emphasizes defense, in practice and in games," Smith said. "Our being so young last year, we thought we could just outscore teams on the road, which is not going to happen. When you're not scoring baskets on the road, you've got to get stops so you can make it close and have a chance to win it."

It will take several years for this decision to play itself out. Gaudio will find out how much last year's freshmen will improve as sophomores. He anticipates welcoming one of the nation's top-rated recruiting class into the mix for the 2008-09 season. He is determined that this staff will finish what it began with Prosser seven years ago.

But there are no guarantees. And no one knows that better than Dino Gaudio.

Bill Hass is a long-time observer of ACC sports. His career at the Greensboro News & Record spanned 36 years, from 1969 until his retirement in March, 2006. He is now writing "Bill Hass on the ACC" for theACC.com. His weekly columns will keep fans plugged in to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

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