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NCAA Basketball: Retrospective look at 2011 offseason coaching hires

By Joey Loose

COLLEGE PARK, MD - JANUARY 11: (L to R) Head coachs Mark Turgeon of the Maryland Terrapins and Archie Miller of the Indiana Hoosiers shake hands before a college basketball game at the XFinity Center on January 11, 2019 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
COLLEGE PARK, MD - JANUARY 11: (L to R) Head coachs Mark Turgeon of the Maryland Terrapins and Archie Miller of the Indiana Hoosiers shake hands before a college basketball game at the XFinity Center on January 11, 2019 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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NCAA Basketball Ed Cooley Providence Friars (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
NCAA Basketball Ed Cooley Providence Friars (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

7. Ed Cooley (Providence)

Providence has some proud history, including a pair of Final Four appearances back in the day. By the turn of the century, things weren’t quite as successful, and there really wasn’t much left to celebrate by 2011. Previous coaches Tim Welsh and Keno Davis hadn’t had success in recent years, leaving the Friars on the hunt for a new leader, hoping this time they became competitive again in the Big East.

Ed Cooley was himself a native of Providence, having played his college ball at Stonehill in nearby Massachusetts. Soon into his coaching career, he joined Al Skinner’s staff at Rhode Island and followed him to Boston College, spending a decade as a D1 assistant. He then got his first head coaching job at Fairfield, building the Stags into a 25-win MAAC regular-season champion by the end of his tenure.

Providence took a major step forward soon after hiring Cooley. As they transitioned into the new Big East, the Friars made a great intro to the new conference, finishing in the top 3 for five straight years, all of which ended in NCAA Tournament appearances. Cooley remains with the Friars, and those five straight appearances is a program record. They aren’t a Final Four team, but they’re a more than solid program under Cooley’s watch again.

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