According to multiple reports, longtime Providence coach Ed Cooley is expected to accept the same position at Georgetown, replacing Patrick Ewing, who was relieved of his duties earlier this month. Barring a surprise “change of heart,” Cooley will finish his tenure at Providence as the second-winningest coach in school history, leading his hometown Friars to a conference championship (2014) and seven tournament appearances including a trip to last year’s Sweet 16.
A two-time Rhode Island Player of the Year at Central High (Class of ’88), Cooley returned to Providence in 2011 on the heels of a five-year run at Fairfield, his first head-coaching assignment following assistant jobs at Stonehill (his alma mater), UMass-Dartmouth, URI and Boston College, the latter two under mentor Al Skinner. Cooley was the 2022 Naismith Coach of the Year in college basketball, helping Providence to a Big-East regular-season title and an overall 27-6 record, their most wins since reaching the Final Four with Rick Pitino in 1987. Providence took a step back this season (21-12) but still received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where the 11th-seeded Friars would lose their opening-round matchup against Kentucky.
Given its recent lack of success, Georgetown would seem to be a lateral move, if not a step down from the job Cooley held at Providence. Cooley’s admiration for the late John Thompson, a black pioneer and, by all accounts, his coaching idol, along with an appealing $6-million salary were both seen as determining factors in the 53-year-old leaving the city that will always be his home. Providence fans will still get their fill of Cooley, facing him twice a year in conference play.
College basketball’s coaching carousel is well underway with Cooley, Damon Stoudamire (Georgia Tech), Mike Brey (South Florida), Chris Beard (Ole Miss) and Rick Pitino (expected to leave Iona for St. John’s) headlining this year’s crop of big-name hires.
UPDATE: Providence has officially accepted Cooley's resignation with plans to begin a "national" coaching search.
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