Rumors of Providence Coach Ed Cooley Leaving for Georgetown Heating Up Ahead of NCAA Tournament
Nothing gets the emotions churning quite like March Madness.
The cheers, the jeers and the tears that spew from the mouths of fans, players and coaches alike during the NCAA Tournament is unlike anything else you may find in college or professional sports.
Pressure fills arenas around the nation as 64 teams play one-another in a single-elimination bracket, vying for the ultimate prize: a national championship.
The last thing that a team needs in the lead-up to a win-or-go-home game on a big stage is a big distraction. Unfortunately for Kentucky's Round of 64 opponent Providence, that's just what it's facing as it prepares to head to Greensboro.
Head coach Ed Cooley has been at the helm at Providence for 12 seasons and owns a 242-152 record. Those 242 wins make him the second-winningest coach in program history. This season will be his seventh NCAA Tournament appearance as PC skipper.
But will it be his last?
That's what the rumor mill is starting to think. On March 11, Stadium's Jeff Goodman reported that Georgetown "will make a run" at Cooley to be its next head coach and that he "will listen to the Hoyas offers."
The Hoyas fired Patrick Ewing on March 9 after six abysmal seasons that saw just one winning record and a one-off appearance in March Madness, thanks to a run to the Big East Tournament title. The last two seasons have witnessed six and seven wins, respectively.
An important and storied program through the late 1970's through early 2010's, Georgetown has fallen off a cliff in terms of relevancy since Ewing was hired. It's now looking to get its swagger back, with rumors of Cooley, Penn State HC Micah Shrewsbury and former longtime Notre Dame HC Mike Brey potentially being in the mix as candidates. Even Rick Pitino was mentioned in the beginning, though, those thoughts have since been hushed.
Cooley held a media scrum on Selection Sunday, once it was announced that his Friars would be facing off against the Wildcats in the Round of 64, where he was asked about coaching change rumors.
"I'm concerned about my team, i'm concerned about Kentucky and that's all I know," he said. "We're sought after every single year, we've been fortunate to be put in a position where Providence College has given us the platform to showcase the type of coaching staff we have."
When prodded further about the G-Town rumblings, Cooley doubled-down on the task at hand. "I'm worried about Kentucky," he said. "I answer these questions every year. I’m the Providence College coach and Providence is playing Kentucky on Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina.”
Standard coachspeak. And why would he say anything otherwise? The head coach is focused on his team's game in the postseason. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Well, since Sunday, reports have continued to circulate, pairing the hometown Providence native with a school in the same conference that is currently on a completely different trajectory.
CBS Sports' Seth Davis tweeted on Tuesday that the Cooley-to-Georgetown chatter "was getting chattier by the hour."
That was followed by a tweet from Kevin McNamara — a local journalist covering the Friars — shedding some light on the current situation:
Cooley is yet to truly acknowledge the gossip and mention any sort of contact with the Hoyas, and it's expected that once the season is over for Providence, the attempt to lure Cooley to Washington D.C. will be pursued harder, something McNamara calls a distraction to both the players and fans of PC.
Whether it's actually distracting the team ahead of Friday night or not, ramped-up scuttlebutt frankly cannot come at a worse time. Would Cooley actually make the jump from a place that he's beloved to a program that is currently considered a step down? Who knows. That's what the rumor mill does.
Cooley will speak to media in Greensboro on Thursday, perhaps having to face questions of a potential move one final time before tipoff against Kentucky at 7:10 p.m. EST on Friday inside Greensboro Coliseum.
Wildcats Today will have coverage from Greensboro ahead of No. 6 Kentucky vs. No. 11 Providence in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64.
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