Maryland Basketball: 7 candidates to replace Mark Turgeon as head coach

Ed Cooley

As previously mentioned, this Maryland job is a very attractive one on a nationwide scale. This isn’t the type of job that’s just going to go with the hot mid-major coaches who pop up during March Madness. That isn’t to say that the Terrapins won’t hire that kind of a coach down the line, but the names that will pop up are already established at power conference schools. The work that Ed Cooley has done clearly makes him an intriguing candidate.

Much of Cooley’s early experience came in a ten-year stint under Al Skinner, with most of that time spent as an assistant at Boston College. His first head coaching job came in a solid five-year stint at Fairfield, culminating in a 25-win season in 2011. Cooley has spent the last decade at Providence, turning the Friars into a much better program in the new-look Big East. He recently led the Friars to five straight NCAA Tournaments for the first time in program history.

The success that Cooley created at Providence has made him an attractive candidate brought up for some higher profile jobs. This isn’t to say that Providence isn’t a great job, but Cooley’s success recruiting and coaching in the ACC as an assistant and the Big East as head coach may mean he’d be ready to take on the Big Ten. He’s spent his coaching career in New England, but perhaps Cooley could finally be the coach to make a breakthrough in DC recruiting. It’s not the most exciting hire the Terrapins could make, but Cooley is beyond solid.