5 questions with Georgetown’s Ed Cooley
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Ed Cooley is about to begin a new chapter. After a successful tenure at Providence, the 53-year old head coach accepted the Georgetown job in March. I caught up with Cooley this week in Washington D.C. to discuss his new endeavor, the Big East, and much more.
Jon Rothstein: There’s no term in sports that’s more overused when somebody takes a new job than “changing the culture”, but how difficult is it to accomplish that when you take over a program that’s a combined 13-50 in the past two seasons?
Ed Cooley: It’s really difficult and it’s not just because things haven’t been good here at Georgetown. When you take over a new situation, a new voice arises. That means everything that’s going on within the program is new. There’s new terminology. There’s a new way of doing things. That’s not to say that the previous regime was doing things right or wrong — it’s just different. It’s going to take some time, but I like what we’re doing here so far at Georgetown. We’re working hard at it.
Rothstein: Because of your experience in the Big East at Providence, you have a tremendous working knowledge of how good this league is and how good it can be next season. With that said, what are realistic expectations for what you can accomplish next season in your first year at Georgetown?
Cooley: I don’t know yet. Today was really the first day that we went 5-on-5. As we do more of that, I’ll have a better idea. I really like our perimeter. We’re going to have our challenges up front, but I can tell you that we’re going to be hard to play against. We’re going to defend. We’re going to compete. We’re going to fight. But as you know, the Big East is really, really good.
Rothstein: How good can the Big East be next season?
Cooley: Really good — the best that it’s been since realignment. I think it’s going to be the best league in the country. That isn’t to say that other leagues in the country aren’t really good. I know that the Big 12 is really good. I know that the Big Ten is really good. But the Big East feels like it’s going to be on a different level next season. When you look at the players that the league is returning and the players that the league has added as well as the coaches, it’s going to be a terrific league. It’s going to be the best league in the country.
Rothstein: You knew that you were getting a known commodity in Illinois transfer Jayden Epps. You knew that you were inheriting a known commodity in Jay Heath. What do you think you may be getting in North Carolina transfer Dontrez Styles?
Cooley: I think the ceiling for Dontrez is really high. He’s as gifted of an athlete as I’ve coached. When he gets more familiar with us and gets more confident — his ability to shoot and go off the bounce will stand out. He can really defend. He’s really long. He’s as good of an athlete as there is in the country. I expect him to be a key cog in what we’re building…
Read More: 5 questions with Georgetown’s Ed Cooley 2023-07-29 01:52:39