How Ed Cooley Revitalized Providence College’s Men’s Basketball Program

In March 2011, Providence College athletics director Bob Driscoll knew he needed to change the culture of the school’s basketball team, a once proud program with a rich history that had fallen on hard times. That month, the school fired coach Keno Davis, who had won less than half of his games in three seasons. More than that, the program had some off-court issues, and the fan base was restless.

During the search process for Davis’s replacement, Driscoll worked with Mike Tranghese, the former Big East Conference commissioner who was then working as a consultant. Both men identified the ideal candidate: Fairfield coach Ed Cooley, a Providence native.

After Driscoll and then-Providence President Reverend Brian Shanley met with Cooley and interviewed him, they thought they had the right man. They offered the job to Cooley, who soon accepted, the start of what would become a remarkable turnaround.

On Friday night in Chicago, No. 4 seed Providence plays No. 1 seed Kansas in the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Regional. It is the first time the Friars have made the Sweet 16 since 1997, and it is no fluke. The Friars (27-5) already have their most victories in a season since the 1973-74 team went 28-4. They also won the Big East regular season title for the first time.

“(Cooley’s) success has rallied the entire state and the city, being one of Providence’s own,” Driscoll said. “He fits into the culture. Providence College historically has been a blue collar kind of basketball program. We’re not always going to get the blue-chip guys, but we get guys that work hard and can win games. That fits our character of who we are.”

Before joining the Friars 11 years ago, Cooley was already well aware of its history. He grew up a couple of miles from campus, one of nine children to a single mother. He used to sneak into Friars’ games, and he played the sport himself, leading Central High School to consecutive state titles in 1987 and 1988.

Cooley had hoped to continue his career at Providence, the University of Rhode Island or another Division 1 college, but he never got an offer at that level. After spending a year at a prep school in New Hampshire, Cooley played four years at Stonehill College, a Division II program in Easton, Mass., about 30 miles from Providence. He then got into coaching, including spending 10 years as an assistant at Rhode Island and Boston College under coach Al Skinner, who remains a mentor and close friend.

“His enthusiasm for the game, his desire to learn was important,” Skinner said. “But I showed him a different way. He always played with a lot of passion as he coaches with a lot of passion, but I taught him there was a cerebral side to this thing, too. That’s one of the most important qualities a coach can have.”

Skinner added: “Those qualities take time. It just doesn’t come overnight. It doesn’t come with an emotional speech. It comes with doing it every day, just being consistent with your approach and your attitude. That’s what he’s been able to do with the Providence program.”

In 2006, Cooley got his first head coaching job at Fairfield, where he won more than 57% of his games. During the 2010-11 season, Cooley’s last at the school, the Stags went 25-8 and won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season title.

As Cooley moved up the ranks, he built strong relationships with several coaches and administrators, including Tranghese, who helped create the Big East in 1979 and served as its commissioner from 1990 through 2009. Tranghese also had a long history in Providence, where the Big East had its headquarters, and at Providence College, joining the school in 1972 as the sports information director.

During Tranghese’s first season with the Friars, they made the 1973 Final Four of the NCAA tournament under coach Dave Gavitt, who would go on to found the Big East. They led Memphis State by eight points midway through the first half before All-American forward Marvin Barnes sustained a serious knee injury. Barnes returned late in the game, but he was nowhere close to 100%, and the Friars lost.

Over the next couple of decades, the Friars had some memorable seasons, including making the Final Four in 1987 and the Elite Eight in 1997. Still, when Cooley took over, Providence had only made two NCAA tournament appearances in the past 14 years, losing in the first round both times.

“They were really beaten down (when Cooley was hired),” Tranghese said. “I thought they needed a number of things besides a good coach. I thought they needed a culture change, most of all. Providence College basketball is a big thing in the state of Rhode Island. I just think you’ve got to have someone with personality who the public can relate to and gravitate to.”

He added: “I remember saying to Bob and then-President Shanley, ‘No one can guarantee you when you make a hire that a guy’s going to win. I can tell you I think he will. But he’s going to change the culture. He’s going to be a great representative for the school.’”

And Cooley has been that and more, helping the team win on the court and be successful from a business perspective, as well. Since Driscoll arrived in 2001, Providence has raised more than $100 million for its athletics programs through seat licenses, fundraising and donations. And the Friars have upgraded all of their athletics facilities or built new ones, including the Ruane Friar Development Center, a $35 million men’s basketball and training facility that opened in 2018.

Driscoll said Cooley is willing and eager to interact with donors, attend functions and work alongside Driscoll and Steve Napolillo, the school’s chief athletics fundraising administrator who will take over as athletics director when Driscoll retires in June.

“Ed’s an amazing ambassador,” Driscoll said. “He’s a very charismatic guy. He’s a big part of why we’ve raised the money because he has a great personality. He’s likeable. He treats people with dignity and respect. He’s kind of the face of the program and because he’s so social by nature and so likeable people want to be around him. People are willing to give resources to support him because he’s a good human being.”

Under Cooley, Providence has had its most sustained success since Gavitt was the coach in the 1970s. The Friars have made six NCAA tournaments in the past nine seasons. And they would have had another appearance in 2020 when they were 19-12 and on a six-game winning streak before the tournament was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This season, Cooley has done the best coaching job of his life. The Friars were coming off a 13-13 season, lost their best player (David Duke, Jr.) to the NBA and were picked to finish seventh out of 11 teams in the Big East’s preseason poll. But they won 13 of their first 14 games and have been ranked in the Associated Press’s top 25 poll since late December.

Providence has gone 11-2 in games decided by five points or fewer and won all three of its overtime games. That has led to Providence’s low standing in the computer rankings and some people calling the Friars lucky, a moniker that Cooley has embraced to motivate his players.

“If you deliver that message to your men the right way and you inspire them and lead them in the right way, unbelievable things could happen,” Cooley said in his news conference in Chicago on Thursday. “And there’s going to be some luck along the way. But in life, I’ve been doubted my whole life. And everybody who doubted is now watching doubt.”

On Friday, Cooley can use that motivational tactic again, as the Friars are underdogs to Kansas (30-6), one of the sport’s premier and most consistent programs going back decades. Still, regardless of the outcome, Providence is on the right track under Cooley, who has revitalized the Friars.

“I knew Ed would win,” Tranghese said. “To what degree, I didn’t know. But Providence was just so down at that point (when he was hired). I knew Ed would get the culture straightened out, he’d get kids who would play hard. I think Ed’s exceeded everyone’s expectations.”