Georgetown expected to hire Ed Cooley from Providence

Georgetown is expected to name Providence head coach Ed Cooley as the next Hoyas coach, sources tell ESPN. The two sides had deep discussions on Monday, and the deal is expected to be finalized in the near future, according to ESPN’s sources.

Georgetown’s hire represents a significant upgrade from the program’s slump under Patrick Ewing, which included a 29-game losing streak and 13-50 record the past two seasons.

Georgetown’s targeting and landing of a top East contender loomed as a significant coup, as Cooley had consistently outplayed Providence. It has reached the NCAA Tournament in seven of the past nine years it has been held, and that run includes the Big East regular season championship in 2021-22.

Georgetown has reached the NCAA Tournament in only one of the past seven years in which it has been held, and the school extended Ewing after winning its only NCAA bid by winning the Big East tournament the year they finished 13-13. Georgetown hasn’t finished with a winning record in the Big East since 2014-15.

Given Georgetown’s location in central Washington, which is arguably the best basketball city in the country, the upside to the program is that it is considered a notch above Providence. The Hoyas have reached five Final Fours in program history and won the 1984 national title.

Cooley will be entrusted with these kinds of projections after his success in Providence, where he went 242-153 over 12 seasons.

Cooley, 53, has pursued other positions in the past, most notably Michigan in 2019 when the Wolverines eventually hired Joan Howard. He walked out of his job after talks with Michigan Athletic Director Ward Manuel, and returned to a multi-year contract extension with Providence.

Providence officials went to great lengths to try to keep Cooley back this time around, with sources saying he was offered a long-term deal with a pay raise.

Cooley, a Providence native, has spent his entire coaching career in New England. He started as an assistant coach at UMass Dartmouth College and Stonehill, his alma mater. He then spent a year as an assistant coach at Rhode Island before following Al Skinner to Boston College for a decade as his assistant.

Cooley’s first head coaching job came at Fairfield, where he led the Stags to a regular season MAAC title in 2011 before being hired by his hometown school to replace Keno Davis.

In 12 seasons with the Friars, Cooley won the Big East Conference championship in 2014, leading the program to its second championship title in its history. This season, Providence started 14-3 overall and 6-0 in conference play before struggling all the way to a first-round NCAA Tournament exit to Kentucky, 61-53.