Ed Cooley’s Providence return didn’t include any welcoming cheers — but that wasn’t necessarily expected based on his exit and the scene on campus Saturday morning.
He was the coach — the Providence, R.I. native — who rebuilt the Friars into a ranked program that advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2021-22.
Then, he became the coach who left the program and took the job at Georgetown, one of its Big East rivals.
It turned Saturday’s Providence-Georgetown game at Amica Mutual Pavilion into a hostile atmosphere, where rowdy students shoved each other to the ground when entering the facility and Cooley was greeted by “f–k Ed Cooley” chants once the game started.
Providence reportedly had 18 police officers stationed outside the arena, 11 others inside, extra cameras positioned and 54 security officers from a private firm for the game — more than double what the university would use for a regular game, according to CBS Sports.
Warning: Adult Language
Cooley shook some hands as he entered the arena, and in a pregame interview with Fox, the 54-year-old said he spoke with his Georgetown team about the environment while also supporting Providence new head coach Kim English and the team he inherited.
“It’s an emotional time, but at the end of the day I still think change is good for everyone and not a lot of people have the courage to change and that’s something that I’m destined to do,” Cooley said in his pregame interview.
When he left Fairfield for the Providence job following the 2010-11 season, the Friars were a 15-win team.
By Cooley’s third season, they’d won 23 games and made the NCAA Tournament, starting a string of five consecutive appearances in the postseason tournament.
Then, in 2021-22, Providence made its first Sweet 16 since 1997.
That made Cooley’s decision to leave a surprise after the Hoyas fired Patrick Ewing.
And it’s why his return to campus likely unfolded how it did pregame.