Wake Forest is going to name assistant coach Dino Gaudio the successor to the late Skip Prosser at a news conference Wednesday, multiple sources have told ESPN.com late Tuesday night.

Sources have told ESPN.com that Gaudio will not have the interim tag and that both parties are close to agreeing on a three-year contract.

He was a big part of Wake Forest's recent renaissance with current NBA players Josh Howard and Chris Paul. Gaudio was a big part of the staff that recruited a potential for a top-five recruiting class in 2008 if all the commitments hold.

Prosser, the congenial coach who led the Demon Deacons for six seasons, died July 26 of an apparent heart attack at the age of 56, shocking the college basketball world and leaving the university in disbelieving grief.

Two other Prosser staff members were believed to be among the top candidates to replace him: associate head coach Jeff Battle and assistant Pat Kelsey.

Gaudio -- a longtime assistant to Prosser on both the high school and college levels -- has seven years of college head coaching experience. He was 36-72 in four seasons as Army's head coach and 32-52 at Loyola of Maryland from 1998-2000.

The announcement could cap a tumultuous 13 days in Winston-Salem.

Shortly after Prosser returned from his noon jog July 26, he was found unresponsive and slumped on his office couch by one of his assistants. Medical personnel performed CPR and used a defibrillator, but Prosser was pronounced dead after being taken to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

During the funeral, Prosser was remembered by Gaudio for having "unwavering" integrity, and the veteran assistant said during his eulogy that "those of us that were blessed to be under his charge will carry that with us for the rest of our lives."

Under Prosser the Demon Deacons won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title in 2003 and reached the NCAA tournament in his first four seasons. Wake Forest reached No. 1 in the poll for the first time during the 2004-05 season.

Prosser was head coach at Xavier for seven seasons and at Loyola of Maryland for one.

He had a career record of 291-146 as a head coach, including 126-68 with Wake Forest. He is the only coach to take three schools to the NCAA tournament in his first season at each.

Labels: coaching changes