Georgetown hires Providence’s Ed Cooley as men’s basketball coach to replace Patrick Ewing

Providence coach Ed Cooley has been hired as the head basketball coach at Georgetown, multiple outlets have reported, replacing the recently fired Patrick Ewing.

The Hoyas announced the move on Monday, after Providence issued a news release saying that Cooley had resigned.

‘I plan on hitting the ground running, getting to work on the court and cultivating relationships in and around the District,’ Cooley said in a statement released by his new employer. ‘Accepting this opportunity with Georgetown is not a decision I took lightly.’

Cooley, 53, just completed his 12th season at Providence. His Friars were bounced from the NCAA Tournament by Kentucky in the first round. It was the Friars’ seventh trip to the tournament under Cooley.

He is 242-153 at Providence and 334-222 overall in 17 seasons as a head coach. He led Fairfield from 2006-11 before taking the Providence job in 2011.

Cooley is replacing Patrick Ewing, who was fired earlier this month after six seasons at his alma mater. 

Georgetown legend and head coach Patrick Ewing was fired in March after going 7-25 this year

The Hoyas went 7-25 (2-18 Big East) in the Knicks legend’s final season in charge. Hired in 2017, Ewing was unable to get Georgetown back to a winning record in the Big East, something that hasn’t happened since the 2014-15 season. 

What’s more is that The Hoyas are a combined 75-109 under Ewing and have made the NCAA Tournament just once — when they completed an improbable run through.

On Wednesday, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported on Twitter that Cooley put his Rhode Island home on the market for sale. 

Georgetown men’s basketball team is the school’s most famous and most successful program. Given its prestige, the university’s location in the middle of the country’s capital, and its fanbase, there was more of an incentive for Cooley to join The Hoyas then to stay with Providence. 

The Friars have never won March Madness, compared to Georgetown’s 1984 title, spearheaded by Ewing and coach John Thompson. 

Cooley will now be tasked with returning The Hoyas to their glory days by emulating the success that he found in Providence, whose officials were said to be prepared to go to great lengths to keep the 53-year-old by offering him a long-term deal and significant pay raise.

Cooley, a Providence native, started off his coaching career in New England, where his first basketball-related job was as an assistant coach at UMass Dartmouth. 

He then left for Stonehill College, his alma mater, before leaving a year later to be an assistant coach at Rhode Island. Cooley’s longest job was at Boston College, where he was part of Al Skinner’s staff for nine years as his assistant. 

The Hoyas have not made the Final Four since 2007 and last won the NCAA tournament in 1984 while Ewing was still playing (pictured)