by Jordan Beckley
Ed Cooley took a leap of faith and left Providence to coach Georgetown. To Friar faithful, it was a betrayal. To Hoya fans, Cooley brings promise. For Ed Cooley, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
The Big East has dominated the offseason storylines in College Basketball.
One story is UConn winning their 5th National Title and the related coronation of Dan Hurley. Another is Rick Pitino being back in a major conference and trying to restore St. Johns to old glory and obsessing over Madison Square Garden. But one of the biggest stories of the offseason has been the hiring of Ed Cooley at Georgetown.
Georgetown finally fired Patrick Ewing and rather quickly hired Providence Head Coach Ed Cooley. Cooley left the school that he had been a coach at for 12 years to stay in conference and coach for a rival school. Fans theorized that with how brief the interview and hiring process was that this decision had been made for several months, even citing a Zillow listing of Ed Cooley’s home.
Understandably, the Friar fans felt betrayed. Ed Cooley had come to define Providence Basketball and it seemed wrong to have him coach anywhere else. Other programs had inquired and tried to get Ed Cooley in the past few seasons, but Providence was home.
However, Georgetown was the right program in the right place and right now was the right time for Ed.
Leaving Providence was one of the hardest decisions he has ever had to make, but the decision came down to himself, his life, his family, and an opportunity for something bigger.
Proudly from Providence
Ed Cooley is very much the guy for Providence. Cooley was born and raised in Providence. He played College ball just 40 minutes from Providence at Stonehill College. Eventually, Cooley made his way home to coach the Friars.
When he took over in 2011, the Friars hadn’t made March Madness since 2004 and last won a tournament game in 1997. Cooley has guided the program back to relevancy and made 7 Tournaments in his 12 seasons. In his third season, Providence won the Big East Tournament for the first time in 20 years. In the 2021-22 season, Cooley even won the only Regular Season Big East Championship in program history.
He has always been a mouthpiece for how special Providence College and the city are. This deep connection to the city makes his decision all the more difficult for himself and also that much more painful for Providence fans.
Family Matters
For Cooley this decision was also deeply driven by Family. He and his wife Nurys have lived in Providence for the past twelve years. Their kids have grown up in Providence just like Ed did.
Now, both kids are graduated from College and out of the house. His youngest daughter Olivia is set to graduate from Georgetown and live in the DC area after college. This was an opportunity to both downsize (Cooley says that is why his house was put on the market during the season) and live closer to Family.
Nurys Cooley also wanted to live somewhere new, specifically a city.
“Nurys wants to live in a city, and she’s done a great job and doing what I’ve wanted to do for 29 years. That played into the role of making a change” Cooley told Fox Sports’ John Fanta.
Contrary to what Providence fans might tell you, moving to a new city to make your family happy is not a mortal sin. It is rather sweet and thoughtful Cooley can think of his wife and how many moves he has put her through in 3 decades of coaching and do something for her happiness.
Now, this move isn’t just for her and family. Georgetown and it’s basketball program also give Cooley a new challenge as a coach.
John Thompson, Ed Cooley & Georgetown
John Thompson Jr. completely built the Georgetown program.
Thompson coached Georgetown for 27 years appearing in 20 NCAA tournaments. Before him, the Hoyas had been to one NCAA tournament ever. Coincidentally, that team also lost in the National Title all the way back in 1943. Thompson lead them back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 31 years in just his third season.
He helped to get the Hoyas from an Independent school to be a founding member of the old Big East Conference. In their first season of the Big East, Thompson and the Hoyas were Regular season and Conference Tournament Champions. His Hoya teams would go on to win the Big East 7 times and win the Conference tournament another 6 times.
Thompson’s Georgetown teams are probably most famous for the Patrick Ewing teams from 1981-85. Those teams appeared in three Final Fours and won a National Title in 1984 over Phi Slama Jama Houston. Some of the most memorable games ever were Thompson’s Georgetown teams. Michael Jordan and UNC’s national title in 1982, 8 seeded Villanova upsetting reigning Champion Georgetown and future no. 1 pick Ewing, and even their own Title over Houston.
As much of a champion as he was on the court, John Thompson was also a champion off the court.
John Thompson became a national symbol and a spokesperson for Black men. He was the first Black head coach to win a National Title. Coaching was a predominantly white occupation and Thompson helped break barriers and paved the way for Coaches like Ed Cooley.
Beyond coaching, Thompson vigorously fought for his own Black athletes and the education they were getting at Georgetown. He fought against Prop 42 to protect Black athletes from losing scholarships, often discussed race in a way that wasn’t commonplace in his era, and even scared off drug dealers from harming his player’s futures.
Thompson was an unapologetic black man of high character.
Undoubtedly, Thompson is a role model for Ed Cooley. Cooley has said that John Thompson “gave us an opportunity to see ourselves through him” and that he was a “Ball of Hope” for Black kids.
Cooley is one of the most respected coaches in the country, known for building his program and doing things the “right way.”
For him to be able to follow in John Thompson’s footsteps and represent Georgetown as a black head coach isn’t just an opportunity, it is a dream come true.
“For me to leave Providence College it had to take something incredibly, incredibly special, because the people there are special, the alumni there are special, I’m from there… so for me to leave there it took faith it took a little uh gut check, but you gotta do what you gotta do to have some fulfillment.” said Cooley.
Georgetown is incredibly, incredibly special. Beyond the ability to follow in Thompson’s footsteps, the Hoyas give Cooley an opportunity to compete at a higher level. A program like Georgetown with its money, history, and location nestled in the center of the recruiting hotbed the DMV will allow Cooley to elevate as a recruiter and therefore hopefully compete for Final Fours and maybe even National Titles.
Cooley has hit the ground running already landing three 4-Star transfers in Jayden Epps, Rowan Brumbaugh, and Dontrez Styles for this season and grabbed two more 4-Star recruits in the 2024 class with Thomas Sorber and Kayvaun Mulready. Time will tell how successful Cooley will be in DC, but he is certainly going for it.
So where does that leave Providence?
Cooley follows in a long line of successful coaches at Providence College. Coaches like Dave Gavitt, Rick Pitino, Rick Barnes, and Pete Gillen. Losing Cooley hurts, but Providence will once again find another great coach eventually. New Head Coach Kim English might even be that Coach.
All of those coaches left Providence for less prestigious than Georgetown. Cooley being a chosen son of Providence and leaving stings, but hopefully in time Friar fans can forgive him. That certainly won’t happen this year and I cannot wait for the return of Cooley to PC.
Ed Cooley made a decision for himself, his family and their happiness. It just so happened that meant going to in conference rival Georgetown. But the decision is deeply personal and makes sense.
Cooley summed it up best, “It’s OK, I understand everybody’s anger… I’m from Providence, raised there, born there, coached there. I’m still going to be one of them. That made it even harder when people think you turned their back on them and I understand their anger. But they only wanted Coach Cooley. I want to be Ed. I can’t say that enough.”
Well Coach Cooley will have the opportunity to be the best version of Ed he can be at Georgetown.