Providence head coach Ed Cooley bolting for Big East rival Georgetown
Providence Friars head basketball coach Ed Cooley is leaving the university – to take the same job at a Big East rival.
According to reports from ESPN and Stadium, Cooley is expected to take the head coaching job at Georgetown University, replacing Patrick Ewing who was fired at the end of the season.
The rumors of Cooley jumping to the Hoyas have been heating up over the past several days, with the coach receiving questions about it after Providence’s first-round loss to the Kentucky Wildcats in March Madness 2023 on Friday.
When originally asked if he would be “on the bench with the Friars” next season, Cooley responded only with: “Next question.”
He was then asked if there was a chance he had coached his last game with Providence, to which he had a much longer response.
“You know, guys, there’s all kinds of rumors and speculation, and I know you guys are trying to do your job. I get it,” Cooley said. “But after a game like this, I just think it’s fair to talk about our players. I think it’s fair to talk about the game. That, man, I’m right here right now.
“I think those are very hard questions when you just are going off of speculation. Doing your job, but it’s about this game, and it has nothing to do with my future or my present.”
Cooley also did an interview with WPRI-TV over the weekend and was asked additional questions about his future, to which he said he was “reflecting” and “processing.”
“We’re still just going through the process of possibilities,” he said. “Nothing is in stone. I am going to sit down and have an open conversation with another school and see where it goes from there.”
“…Sometimes in life change is needed for emotional stability, for wellness,” he later added.
When asked if that “other school” was Georgetown, he seemed to confirm it was, but said “nothing has been offered.”
Before the report came out that Cooley was taking the Georgetown job, it was reported that he put his Rhode Island home on the market, per Zillow.
Cooley, 53, has coached Providence for 12 seasons, leading the team to the NCAA Tournament seven times in that span.
His best result was in 2021-22 when his Friars were the Big East regular-season champions and made it to the Sweet 16 of March Madness.
Providence was then eliminated by Kansas, the eventual champion.
Cooley now takes over a Georgetown program that is in shambles after Ewing’s tenure.
Throughout Ewing’s six seasons at the helm with the Hoyas, they only made March Madness once – in 2020-21, when they won the Big East Tournament.
Overall, Ewing was 75-109 as head coach, with an abysmal 13-50 mark over the past two seasons.
