Sunday, November 14, 2010

BOSTON - CollegeInsider.com announced the creation of 'Shots from the Heart,' a project designed to help raise awareness for heart disease and four A-Sun coaches will participate in free-throw shooting tournaments.

College basketball coaches will compete against one another in a free throw shooting tournament, which will benefit the American Heart Association. The event will also pay tribute to the late Skip Prosser who passed away on July 26, 2007 of a heart attack. From the Atlantic Sun, head coaches Rick Byrd and 2010 Coach of the Year Robbie Laing will participiate

"I'm happy that in some small way I have the opportunity to help the American Heart Association. With a great group like CollegeInsider.com, hopefully we'll have the opportunity to generate some support for this effort," said Coach Laing. "My college roommate, the former women's basketball coach at Cincinnati J. Kelley Hall, passed away over Labor Day weekend from heart failure, so this effort really resonates with me personally."

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. To avoid ties, 1-20 shots made are worth one point, shots 21-24 are worth two points and shot 25 is worth three points.

There will also be a tournament for assistant coaches. Belmont assistant Brian Ayers and Campbell associate head coach Charles Baker represent the A-Sun in the competition.

"Brian and I are proud to participate in the Shots from the Heart initiative led by CollegeInsider.com," Byrd said. "Increasing awareness for issues of heart health and general wellness is important, and any small part we can play, we are happy to do so."

"The idea was to create awareness for heart disease through competition," says CollegeInsider.com co-founder Angela Lento. "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."

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