Cooley Tried to Steal 4 From PC, English Clawed Back 2
Saturday, April 15, 2023
If you think the heightened Big East rivalry between the Providence College Friars and the Georgetown Hoyas will be played out on the floor of the AMP or the Capital One Arena, guess again.
The battle between former Friar coach Ed Cooley and newly-minted Providence coach Kim English is manifesting itself in a recruiting war.
Cooley left “Friartown” and tried to take as much of it as he could.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTInitially, it looked like Cooley was going to scoop emerging star point guard Jayden Pierre and three 4-star recruits.
English was able to turn around Pierre. Shortly after Cooley’s departure, Pierre entered the transfer portal. English was able to convince Pierre to reverse his decision and stay at Providence—no word on how the NIL package changed for Pierre.
35th Ranked Dual Recommits
English scored a major victory this week by getting #35 ranked Garwey Dual to recommit after the west coast star had decommitted from PC and looked to be headed to “Hoyatown” and be part of the “family.”
But Dual is headed to Providence.
Who Cooley Scooped
Cooley was able to take two of the Friars' top recruits with him.
Drew Fielder, a 4-star recruit, announced he is headed to Georgetown University to play for Cooley.
“I chose Georgetown because of my relationship with coach (Ed) Cooley,” Fielder told On3. “I really trust what he’s saying and I really believe that he believes in me. He believes we can make Georgetown really good together. They have a good history and we want to keep that going. Keep the history of elite bigs coming through. I’m really excited.”
And “the 2024 four-star point guard Kayvaun Mulready has flipped his commitment from Providence to Georgetown, following former Friars head coach Ed Cooley, according to sources. Mulready, who stands at 6-foot-4 and weighs 210 pounds, ranks No. 68 in the class of 2024 and had previously committed to Providence in January over several other notable programs. The Worcester Academy prospect had cited his strong relationship with Cooley as his primary motivation for the initial commitment, as well as his recent announcement,” writes the Casual Hoya.
No Clean Hands -- English Raids George Mason
English has done his own raiding signing three George Mason players who had entered the transfer portal after he announced his departure for Providence.
The three are:
Davonte Gaines also committed to Providence. This is his second transfer. He started his career at the University of Tennessee, where English recruited him. The 6'7" swingman averaged 7.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game for George Mason this past season.
