Since hiring Ed Cooley, Georgetown has come out better than Providence, columnists S.H. Ratliff III and Luke Neumann write.
When news broke that Georgetown University was hiring longtime Providence College men’s basketball coach Ed Cooley in March 2023, it sent shock waves across the Big East Conference.
A long-standing, unspoken rule discouraged inter-conference moves for decades, but this rule appears to have been tossed to the wayside in the Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) era, as money now trumps loyalty to one’s school, and the vitriol surrounding Cooley’s move went beyond any understanding of polite conduct.
Cooley was a prodigy in Providence. The Providence native was at the school for 12 seasons, won the 2022 Naismith National Coach of the Year award and led the Friars to seven NCAA tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2022. The move to Georgetown was entirely unexpected, leading to a pervasive, bitter hatred for Cooley among the Providence fan base.
Each time Cooley’s Hoyas have ventured to Providence, R.I., to face Head Coach Kim English’s Friars since, including the Hoyas’ Jan. 24th comeback win in Amica Mutual Pavilion, has been surrounded with intense hostility, including profane chants directed at Cooley.
Almost three years removed from Cooley’s arrival on the Hilltop, the question remains who, if anyone, has gained from this saga?
At the beginning of Cooley’s tenure at Georgetown, in March 2023, he promised he would lead the Hoyas back to prominence, but suggested the path from the bottom of the Big East to national contender would not be an easy one.
Cooley has yet to deliver on the first promise, but the second has borne out. In Cooley’s time on the Hilltop, he has compiled a 37-49 record (11-31 in Big East play), which is a far cry from his .613 winning percentage with the Friars. Cooley also has a paltry 2-3 record against Providence.
However, Cooley’s tenure has also had significant highlights, including Georgetown’s first two NBA draft selections since 2013 — Thomas Sorber and Micah Peavy in 2025. Cooley has also retained his recruiting prowess, drawing significant players from the transfer portal and highly-touted high school talent, including five-star forward Alex Constanza. While Cooley has not fulfilled his promise to bring Georgetown back to the spotlight as quickly as many had hoped, the jury is still out on the legacy he will leave in Washington, D.C.
A star college player at the University of Missouri from 2008 to 2012, English led the Tigers to two Big 12 tournament titles and was named the Big 12 tournament MVP in 2012, followed by three years of professional play. English, the former George Mason University head coach who once wrote he would have “crawled backwards from Baltimore to be a Hoya,” was named the Friars’ head coach to replace Cooley after his departure.
In the 2022-23 season, English led George Mason to the Patriots’ first 20-win season in six years. However, English’s tenure in Friartown has been largely unsuccessful. He inherited a talented roster headlined by future NBA first-round pick Devin Carter and current St. John’s forward Bryce Hopkins, and he has brought in significant recruits, including six four-stars.
Despite having talented rosters and momentum, English has failed to make the NCAA tournament since his tenure began and holds a mere .477 win percentage.
Following Georgetown’s improbable comeback, English’s fate at Providence appears sealed, and the Friars will likely have a new man at the helm for the 2026-27 season. And it’s not without cause. Saturday’s loss, in which Providence had, at one point, a greater than 99% chance of winning according to ESPN, can be entirely blamed on English, who made a litany of strange personnel decisions and game-management mistakes.
Most notably, he sat his best player, guard Jamier Jones, for an extended period in the second half. When confronted about his decision to sit Jones in the post-game presser, English confusingly cited Jones making “freshmen mistakes,” despite fellow first-year Stevan Vaaks’ playing and turning the ball over in that same period. It’s a trend this year as the Friars have now dropped five improbable losses — four in overtime to Virginia Tech, Butler University, the University of Connecticut and Marquette University, plus the blown lead to Georgetown.
The answer to who won this heavily scrutinized ordeal is likely unsatisfying and nuanced.
The Friars have regressed under English’s guidance, while Georgetown remains a bottom-dweller in the Big East. We are sure that many college basketball fans, ourselves included, hoped both teams would rise to the top and a marquee rivalry would be born with Cooley’s move.
However, the inverse appears to be true. There will likely be no love lost between English and the Friar fanbase if he’s replaced, especially after a home loss to the Hoyas, but Cooley has certainly not escaped the hot seat either. This story appears to be one of a fall from grace and a young star snuffed out on the biggest stage. Cooley likely still has time to right the ship, but his leash is growing ever shorter despite what was likely his crowning win this past weekend.
S.H. Ratliff III and Luke Neumann are juniors. This is the first installment of their column “From Section 105,” covering everything about Georgetown men’s basketball from a student perspective.