PROVIDENCE, RI (AP) – With his team at the forefront of achieving something that has never been done before in Providence basketball history last month, Ed Cooley has allowed himself to be lost in the moment.
The Friars were comfortable ahead of Creighton, and it was about a minute before they could officially celebrate the school’s first regular season Big East Conference title. Cooley was suddenly a child again.
“I took a deep breath and then, when the game was over, I took a step to the side – I was not Coach Cooley, I was Ed,” Providence said. “Ed was the kid who used to sleep in the Dunkin ‘Donuts Center. Ed was the kid who, who was also a minority, would go in the back door, I would try to ask them if I was with them. “to be her nephew, her son or anyone. It was a surreal moment with respect for me as the coach of Providence College. … It was a real emotion.”
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It’s the kind of reflection that Cooley, the Big East Coach of the Year, will carry with him as the No. 13 Friars (25-5) enter the NCAA Tournament as No. 4 of the Midwest Region – the highest in program history – and prepare for 13th-seeded South Dakota State (30-4) Thursday.
Providence is back in the tournament for the first time since 2018 and is a sleepover to do a deep March Madness Run.
But for Cooley, now in his 11th season at Providence after five years at Fairfield, it’s just an opportunity to add to what he says has always felt like an unlikely way to be here.
That’s because the kind of longevity that Cooley had remains a rarity in the college basketball top tier. Only 18 of the 75 coaches in schools in the Power Five – plus Big East – conferences have been on their current programs for at least 10 years.
Cooley is entering his sixth NCAA tournament as part of an even smaller group as one of only three coaches of color (joining Florida State Leonard Hamilton and Miami Jim Larranaga) to lead Power Five schools for at least a decade.
It’s not something Cooley takes for granted, especially since he began talking about his journey from a job as a high school history professor in 1996 to taking a position as an assistant on Al Skinner’s staff at the University of Rhode Island.
“If you grew up like I grew up and I can really sit here and talk to you – you have no idea,” Cooley said after turning 300. “The percentages say you should not sit here. Zero.”
Skinner first noticed Cooley’s passion for watching him as a captain on Stonehill (Mass.) College’s basketball team.
He believes the secret sauce for Cooley at Providence was a combination of “like where he is” and the administration that gives him the space to grow the program’s path.
“This is America, you have to be successful first and foremost,” Skinner said. “But you also want to be in an environment where you have that support … It allowed him to go to university because of that understanding.”
Selected seventh in the Big East’s preseason poll, Cooley notched his sixth, 20-win season in Providence with a veteran list full of underdogs. His starting lineup includes four graduate players (Nate Watson, Al Durham, Noah Horchler, Justin Minaya) and one senior (AJ Reeves) – none of whom average more than 14 points per game.
The group was also tested in close games, with an 11-2 record in games decided by five or fewer points.
Watson, who has possibly the best chance of playing in the NBA, said the success of the team validated his decision to return for a fifth season.
“I talked about it last year,” Watson said. “I came back for a reason, and that was to cut nets and get to the NCAA tournament. That’s what we did.”
Reeves points to the chemistry they have shared since early in the season despite integrating Durham and Minaya (South Carolina transfer) into the mix.
“It just felt like we were around for a long time. We never lost that blow,” Reeves said.
Whatever happens in the next three weeks, Cooley is grateful to continue the ride he was on.
“The fact that I’m been a head coach for 16 years made me think I’d be fired after the first game. Honestly God. I did not know what I was doing,” Cooley said. “Over time, you’re lucky. You come home and they give you a chance to do something special in your yard. This (stuff) is real, man.
Asked what he attributes to his residency, Cooley became emotional.
“Everyone is worried about what our next victory is. I’m just happy to go to practice tomorrow, inspire young men to be the best they can be, and even one day, people who did not believe in them. have, can live the dream of their conviction, “he said. “The fact that I’m here and you asked me that question – you could not ask me that question 25, 26 years ago. I would say, man, I’m just trying to get through the day.
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