RI’s Man of the Year
Friday, January 11, 2019
Maybe no one epitomizes the spirit of Rhode Island better than this man. Homegrown in Providence and returned home to work his craft. Unlike many before him who achieved success, this man has chosen to stay and make Rhode Island better.
Ed Cooley in the rawest terms is a college basketball coach, but to Rhode Island, he has become so much more.
For the past few decades proceeding him, the head coaching position at Providence College was a stepping stone job. It was a place for good young coaches to go to get to the next step, but never a destination — ask Rick Pitino, Rick Barnes and Pete Gillen.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWhen 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.”
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.
For all these reasons, GoLocal names Providence College Head Men’s Basketball Coach the Rhode Island Man of the Year.
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