The Cooley Factor — He Means So Much More to Rhode Island
Analysis
The Cooley Factor — He Means So Much More to Rhode Island
Two final four appearances (1973, 1987), two NIT Championships (1961, 1963), the first player picked in the NBA draft (Jimmy Walker 1967), but the accomplishments of Ed Cooley and the recognition this year with the Naismith Coach of the Year Award may be the biggest accomplishment.
Cooley’s being named national coach of the year is somehow significantly different and more important. Cooley is Providence, he is Rhode Island.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe coaches previously selected for the Naismith include Bobby Knight, Dean Smith, and Mike Krzyzewski. This award is given to the elite of the elite.
But it is more than that for Rhode Islanders. It is maybe that Cooley could work anywhere. He functionally is on the short-list for every high-powered coaching job in America, but has chosen to stay at Providence College and to live in Rhode Island. In the past, it was Michigan and the New York Knicks. This year it was powers like Maryland and Louisville.
While PC has produced some tremendous college basketball players — it has been an even bigger hotbed of coaching. Hall of Famers like Joe Mullaney, David Gavitt and Rick Pitino as well as Rick Barnes (Naismith Coach of the Year at Tennessee) and Pete Gillen (Elite 8 with PC).
In March, Nate Leaman, the men’s head hockey coach at Providence College spoke with GoLocal about Cooley’s Friars, and how he “loves how Cooley's getting the attention.”
“They’ve built a building for him. He’s in his own building,” Leaman said, laughing. “I love the season they’re having. They’re old, they’re mentally tough, they’re strong and he’s got a great opportunity.”
Leaman is no stranger to success -- he coached the Friars to a national championship in 2016
“I’m one of his biggest fans,” said Leaman. “I know how hard it is. So that’s why to see him having a year like he’s having, I couldn’t be happier for him.”
GoLocal named Cooley Rhode Island’s Man of the Year for 2018, in part for his coaching, but far more for his positive impact.
"As a Providence native and Providence College’s first men’s basketball coach of color, Cooley’s connection to Rhode Island not only has transformed the job, but its relationship with the community -- and helped to show what Rhode Island can achieve at its very best," GoLocal wrote.
The recognition went on to cite the multi-dimensional impact of Cooley:
When GoLocalProv first broke the story that the former Central High School star and then Fairfield Coach would be getting the head coaching job, the boo birds came out in force. The doubters doubted.
Now, eight years later, and more success in wins and losses later than anyone could imagine, Cooley has redefined the head coaching job at Providence College and transformed the connection between the College and the community.
Cooley’s alma mater Stonehill College recognized him as the “Most Outstanding Alumni” in 2013 and President Rev. John Denning said, “In guiding your players, you always tell them to be teammates, to collaborate and to help each other. Off the court, you live by the same principle. You give back to your community and you care about others. That is why so many of your classmates, former teammates, colleagues and friends speak so fulsomely about your loyalty and compassion.”
Cooley said in receiving the award, that he does not want coaching to define him because "it's just a job and anyone can call a play or a timeout." What is important to him is "being a better dad, husband, leader and mentor."
Over the years at Providence, his reputation has flourished from being more than a coach or a top recruiter. He has made national news a number of times, but one incident made global news and only added to the "likability factor" when as London’s Daily Mail reported, “Providence Head Coach Ed Cooley splits pants during Big East Championship and is forced to use towel to cover up his bottom for the remainder of the game” and compete with photo slideshow. No one ever looked more comfortable, more confident than Cooley wearing a towel on national television. He had a job to do.
In a January 2018 interview on Fox Sports, his then-star player Rodney Bullock articulated what had been the sentiment for many basketball players at Providence.
"I heard many stories that it wasn't that great here, and we weren't winning, and it was just bad all around. Now it's this Cooley guy who's definitely taken over the culture," said Bullock. "When I first met Cooley, it felt like I was just talking to one of my friends from back home. And it gives me an opportunity to be the man I want to be. And that -- I can't ask for nothing else more.”