KENT, Ohio ? Kent State Head Coach Geno Ford and Associate Head Coach Rob Senderoff have been selected to participate in CollegeInsider.com’s ‘Shots from the Heart,’ free throw competition to help raise awareness for heart disease. Starting the week of Nov. 15, college basketball coaches from across the country will compete against one another in a free throw shooting tournament, to benefit the American Heart Association. The event also pays tribute to legendary coach Skip Prosser who passed away on July 26, 2007 of a heart attack.
“Having the opportunity to be involved with anything that pays tribute to Skip Prosser is a tremendous honor,” said Ford. “He was a great coach and an even better person. I have never met anyone in the coaching profession that didn’t deeply enjoy their friendship with Coach Prosser.”
There will be two 64-coach fields (one for head coaches and one for assistant coaches). Participating coaches will compete in a free throw shooting contest, which will be bracketed in NCAA tournament format. 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.
“Rob and I are excited about competing in the tournament and I know we have 13 players on our roster rooting against us so we better perform well,” said Ford.
Ford will go up against Ron Everhart of Duquesne in the first round the week of Nov. 15-21. A 1,752-point scorer in college at Ohio University, Ford still holds the Mid-American Conference record for free throw percentage in a single game when he shot 19-19 against Eastern Michigan on Feb, 12, 1997. Crowned the state of Ohio’s Mr. Basketball in 1993, the Cambridge native is the current OHSAA record holder for free throws made in a season (288) and a career (697).
Everhart was a four-year letter winner at Virginia Tech and served as captain of the Hokies 1984-85 NCAA Tournament team. The winner will move on to the second round to face either Bill Self of Kansas or Ben Jacobson of Northern Iowa. The second, third and fourth rounds, will be competed the upcoming months, culminating with a free throw final contested at the 2011 Final Four in Houston.
In the Assistant Coaches Bracket, Senderoff drew a first round match-up with Dick Bender of Clemson. Recently named as the fourth best mid-major assistant in the country, Senderoff has a tough draw as Bender ranked third in NCAA Division III when he shot 91 percent from the free throw line his senior year at Western Maryland in 1985-86. A possible second round encounter looms against Butler’s Darnell Archey who set an NCAA Division I record for consecutive free throws made (85), and he finished with Butler single season (.973 in 2002-03) and career (.951) records for free throw percentage. Archey will face Jamie Kachmarik of UNC Wilmington, a 1997 graduate of Bowling Green.
People can pledge quarter, a dollar, ten dollars or more for each free throw made during the competition. All money raised will go to the American Heart Association. Those interested in making a donation by sponsoring made shots can send emails to: shots@collegeinsider.com. For those interested in making donations, checks can be made payable to the American Heart Association and mailed to:
CollegeInsider.com
410 Prospect Street
Norwood, MA 02062
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
“Having the opportunity to be involved with anything that pays tribute to Skip Prosser is a tremendous honor,” said Ford. “He was a great coach and an even better person. I have never met anyone in the coaching profession that didn’t deeply enjoy their friendship with Coach Prosser.”
There will be two 64-coach fields (one for head coaches and one for assistant coaches). Participating coaches will compete in a free throw shooting contest, which will be bracketed in NCAA tournament format. 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.
“Rob and I are excited about competing in the tournament and I know we have 13 players on our roster rooting against us so we better perform well,” said Ford.
Ford will go up against Ron Everhart of Duquesne in the first round the week of Nov. 15-21. A 1,752-point scorer in college at Ohio University, Ford still holds the Mid-American Conference record for free throw percentage in a single game when he shot 19-19 against Eastern Michigan on Feb, 12, 1997. Crowned the state of Ohio’s Mr. Basketball in 1993, the Cambridge native is the current OHSAA record holder for free throws made in a season (288) and a career (697).
Everhart was a four-year letter winner at Virginia Tech and served as captain of the Hokies 1984-85 NCAA Tournament team. The winner will move on to the second round to face either Bill Self of Kansas or Ben Jacobson of Northern Iowa. The second, third and fourth rounds, will be competed the upcoming months, culminating with a free throw final contested at the 2011 Final Four in Houston.
In the Assistant Coaches Bracket, Senderoff drew a first round match-up with Dick Bender of Clemson. Recently named as the fourth best mid-major assistant in the country, Senderoff has a tough draw as Bender ranked third in NCAA Division III when he shot 91 percent from the free throw line his senior year at Western Maryland in 1985-86. A possible second round encounter looms against Butler’s Darnell Archey who set an NCAA Division I record for consecutive free throws made (85), and he finished with Butler single season (.973 in 2002-03) and career (.951) records for free throw percentage. Archey will face Jamie Kachmarik of UNC Wilmington, a 1997 graduate of Bowling Green.
People can pledge quarter, a dollar, ten dollars or more for each free throw made during the competition. All money raised will go to the American Heart Association. Those interested in making a donation by sponsoring made shots can send emails to: shots@collegeinsider.com. For those interested in making donations, checks can be made payable to the American Heart Association and mailed to:
CollegeInsider.com
410 Prospect Street
Norwood, MA 02062
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
