West Liberty University Athletics

    An outstanding multi-sport athlete, Gene "Skip" DeProsperis starred on both sides of the football for West Liberty's first bowl team and was one of the leading hitters on the baseball team during his time on the hilltop campus.
    A four-year letterman and three-year starter with Coach Joe Bartell's legendary football powerhouses of the late 1940s, DeProsperis helped lead West Liberty to a 32-3-3 record during his four varsity seasons. DeProsperis led the team in interceptions his last two seasons and set a state record in 1948 with an 80-yard TD return. Offensively, he led WLSC in scoring as a junior and was the second-leading scorer and captain on the 1949 team that shut out Western Carolina, 20-0, in the Smokey Mountain Bowl. An outstanding kicker, he also led the state in PATs that season.
    DeProsperis was also a leading figure on the West Liberty baseball team from 1947-50, highlighted by a team-high .450 batting average in 1948. After graduation, DeProsperis began a lengthy career with the Blaw-Knox Company. He retired in 1985 after serving as Safety Director for the company's Wheeling and Warwood plants.