Not bad for a kid from South Providence, huh?
Ed Cooley knows where he’s come from. He knows he’s lucky to be standing where he stands, to be living where he lives, and to be working and coaching where he works. Wednesday, perhaps a little validation climbed aboard for the ride, a ride that has had his Providence Friars also experiencing a special year themselves.
His fellow Big East coaches voted him as Coach of the Year in one of the country’s preeminent basketball leagues. In his 11th year leading the program at Providence, Cooley becomes the first PC coach ever to win the award.
“Honestly, it’s a surreal moment for me,” Cooley said in the glare of the Madison Square Garden spotlights shining on him just a few moments previously. “You know what we’ve been through, how I grew up. But I’m really proud of our staff. I think they get overlooked because the head coach gets a lot of the credit. I’m grateful.”
2021-22 has thus far been Providence’s best win-loss season in 45 years, since 1977. There have been several good teams since that time, even a Final Four team, of course, in 1987. That part of this story hasn’t yet been written for this year, but the first few chapters have been pretty well written.
And Cooley understands his place in the pecking order.
“There have been some Hall of Fame coaches before me -- Coach Gavitt, Mullaney, Rick Pitino, Rick Barnes -- he should be in the Hall of Fame -- Coach Welsh was here for 10 years,” Cooley said. “I’m in the right place at the right time. This is a team thing. I’m here because of this team.”
His team is also here, it could be said, because a kid from South Providence had a thought, an idea and then a dream. And he lived it…better yet, he’s still living it.
Big East Notes
While Cooley took the Coach of the Year honor, as expected Villanova’s Collin Gillespie took Player of the Year honors (for a second straight year) -- as well as Scholar-Athlete of the Year carrying a 3.92 GPA through his fifth year of studies. Creighton freshman guard Ryan Nembhard was the Freshman of the Year, having been named Freshman of the Week six times during the season. The 11 conference head coaches make each of the all-star selections.
The 48-year radio voice of the Georgetown Hoyas, Rich Chvotkin, took the media award for his service to the Big East and to the Georgetown program.
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