The Providence Friars had an exhilarating first-round win in the NCAA tournament against the USC Trojans. That was the end of the road for Providence, as they ran into many people's tournament favorite North Carolina in the next round, but that win, and this season as a whole, is proof of how far the basketball program has come under head coach Ed Cooley.
Cooley took over the program in 2011, and since then, things have been on the upswing for the Providence basketball team. Cooley has said that he wants to finish his coaching career at Providence and that he has no desire to go anywhere else. It seems like Cooley will now get that opportunity.
Providence and Cooley have agreed on a long-term extension that will keep him at the school for the foreseeable future. The amount of years that the extension goes for has not been disclosed, but athletic director Bob Driscoll says that it will be a long time.
"We feel this contract extension is an important part of the process in continuing to build our basketball program," Driscoll said. "Ed has done so much for the College and for the athletics department. He indicated to us that he wants finish his coaching career at Providence College and he is the person we want to guide our men's basketball program. We are thrilled that Ed will be a Friar for life."
Since Cooley was hired back in 2011, he has a record of 103-67 in five seasons. Three of those seasons have ended with Providence in the NCAA tournament, which is something that the Friars were not used to before Cooley came on board. In the 10 years before Cooley became the head coach, Providence finished under .500 six times and made the tournament just once. Cooley has made a postseason tournament in each of the last four years and even has a Big East Tournament title to his name from 2014.
While Cooley will be at Providence likely for the rest of his career, he has his work cut out for him next year. Kris Dunn has entered the NBA draft and won't be back. Ben Bentil has entered the draft, as well, although he hasn't hired an agent and could be back next season. Whether Bentil goes or not, losing Dunn is huge for the Friars and they will have to do some sort of rebuilding. Providence has only received one commitment for a 2016 recruit, and that was from three-star point guard Maliek White, so things may have to get worse before they get better. The good news for Providence, though, is that they have the guy they want as their head coach locked in for a long time, and he has proven he can build the program up.
