Time to Thank Coach Cooley - William Lynch
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Although I am not a Providence College alum, I have been a long-time Friar fan and regularly attended PC basketball games since they were playing in Alumni Hall back in the 1960s before moving to the Civic Center (now the Amp). Like many Rhode Islanders, I have enjoyed the many great PC wins and the historic highlights thanks to the Friars and the exceptional coaching provided by men with names like Gavitt, Mullaney, Pitino, Barnes, Gillen, and most recently, Ed Cooley.
As a season ticket holder in the years leading up to the hiring of coach Cooley in 2011, I remember well the dire and desperate shape that the PC basketball program was in. It's easy now to ignore the many low lights of those years prior to Cooley's arrival, which finally culminated in the arrest of multiple players, repeated losing seasons, finishing 14th in the Big East, playing in a home arena that was mostly empty and practicing in a shared on-campus facility that was simply not adequate for a major college team looking to compete at a national level.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST
Enter Coach Ed Cooley, and the rest is history or as one reporter recently wrote, "Coach Cooley and PC have mutually benefited from a partnership that was written in Hollywood."
Under Cooley's leadership, PC enjoyed seven NCAA tournament berths (eight except for COVID), PC's first-ever Big East Season title and a Big East tournament title. Keep in mind that while coaching PC, Coaches Gavitt, Mullaney and Pitino totaled nine NCAA berths all combined to the seven NCAA berths under Cooley alone. This amazing turnaround and the incredible and consistent success under Cooley's leadership, however, doesn't even begin to measure the tremendous personal dedication and the resulting positive impact that Coach Cooley provided off the court to many young men and women across Rhode Island, particularly young men and women of color, who were and continue to be inspired not only by Coach Cooley, but by Ed Cooley, the person in his own personal journey to survive and succeed against seemingly impossible odds.
So, while we may initially be disappointed at losing Coach Cooley at Providence, I must admit to being disappointed at those who seem more interested in criticizing Coach Cooley's personal decision to accept the position at Georgetown rather than acknowledging and appreciating what Cooley has accomplished during his 12 years at PC. We should celebrate a program that now provides regular championship-caliber teams, perennial national rankings, and a new multi-million-dollar state-of-the-art on-campus practice facility that is often described (including by new PC Coach Kim English) as "the best in the nation."
As is typically the case in college athletics, there also came a time when coaches Gavitt, Mullaney, Pitino, Barnes, and Gillen all left PC to pursue new challenges. I have no doubt that in each instance, these coaches made difficult personal decisions for themselves and for their families, as did Ed and Nurys Cooley (and spare me the anguish about moving to another school in the same league; it’s a regular occurrence in college sports across the country and everyone else seems to survive). Rather than complain, criticize and lament Cooley's decision, it's high time that we take a step back and simply thank Coach Cooley for a job well done.
William Lynch is the former chairman of the Rhode Island Democratic Party and was an accomplished college basketball player.
Related Articles
- PC Gets Critical Road Win Over DePaul Without Cooley
- PC Wins, Cooley Joins Mullaney and Gavitt in 200 Win Club
- PC Beats Georgetown 83-75, Cooley Ties Gavitt for Wins
- Will PC’s Cooley Be Naismith Coach of the Year Semifinalist?
- Dear Coach Cooley, Please Play the URI-PC Rivalry Game—The People of RI Could Really Use It
- PC’s Cooley, Former Patriot Harrison Named Honorary Chairmen of 2020 U.S. Senior Open in Newport
- NEW: Cooley to Stay at PC, Signs Multi-Year Contract Extension
- Ed Cooley — PC’s Mega-Million Dollar Man, “He Transcends Sports”
- Brown’s Martin Named Assistant Coach on Cooley’s Pan American Games Team
- REPORTS: UConn to Rejoin Big East - Hurley & Cooley Rivalry Could Be Back
- PC Hockey’s Leaman Talks Playoff Game, Chance at Another National Championship, and Cooley
- PC’s Cooley Now Semifinalist for Naismith Coach of the Year on Heels of Big East Honor
- TIMELINE: Real Estate Document Unveils Cooley Was Planning a Change Much Earlier
- Cooley Puts $2M East Greenwich Home on the Market—Signed Disclosure Form on March 3
- Georgetown Signs Cooley as Men’s Basketball Coach, PC Begins Search
- 5 Reasons Friars Fans Are Angry at Ed Cooley
- Second Top Friar Recruit Decommits After Cooley’s Departure From PC
- Ed Cooley: “Sometimes in Life Change Is Needed”—PC’s AD Blasts Georgetown
- Top Georgetown Blog Declares Ed Cooley Will Be Next Hoyas Coach
- PC’s Cooley Named Naismith Men’s Coach of the Year
- The Cooley Factor — He Means So Much More to Rhode Island
- PC’s Cooley to be Given “Key to the City” in Providence
- Cooley Agrees to Multi-Year Contract Extension at PC
- Ed Cooley’s East Greenwich Home Goes Under Contract
