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5 questions with Georgetown’s Ed Cooley

Ed Cooley is in rebuilding mode. After going 9-23 last season in his first year as Georgetown’s head coach, Cooley is now aiming to lead the Hoyas back to relevance in the Big East. I caught up with Cooley this week in Washington D.C. to discuss last season’s struggles, his return to Providence last January, Harvard transfer Malik Mack, and much more.

Jon Rothstein: As you’ve had some time to reflect on things, what are the biggest reasons why you think last season went the way that it did?

Ed Cooley: Well, coming in and taking over a new organization — we’re cleaning up a lot of things that just weren’t really efficient in the Big East. We had some really good players, but it didn’t work out well. I think you’ve got to flush that. You’ve got to get not just players who want to come to Georgetown, but players that can play for me in the style that we want to play. I think that was the biggest deficiency last year. We just didn’t have the personalities that matched. We had to upgrade our personnel.

Rothstein: One of the things that you had to endure last season for the first time was going back to Providence — a place where you grew up and coached for a long time — as Georgetown’s head coach. What was that like for you?

Cooley: It was tough going back there. I love Providence College. I love everything about our city and I continue to use “our city”. I love the administration there. I’m pretty sure there will still be some hard feelings there on both sides, but that was a really tough experience. At the end of the day, I thought our kids played well. I thought they blocked out all the noise and I thought they competed at a high level. They had a player on the floor in Devin Carter who was just a game changer. He scored seven or eight straight points and that was the end of the game. But Kim (English) has done an amazing job. His staff has done an amazing job recruiting — the way they’ve built their chemistry and continuity. They’ll always have an elite, elite crowd there at Providence. It’s tough, but life goes on and you move on.

Rothstein: What’s the biggest reason why you think the team that you’re about to coach at Georgetown is primed to make a substantial jump next season?

Cooley: We’ve had a year to learn “What is Georgetown”? We’ve had a year to recruit — both through freshmen and the transfer portal — to try and find out what’s a fit and what’s not a fit. I think we’ve added some significant pieces that are high caliber players, high character players, and they all possess a high intellect for the game. They’re multidimensional players. Now, do we have to get out there and prove it? Yes. But I do like the energy I’m seeing at this point in the summer.

Rothstein: The most highlighted player in terms of your newcomers is Harvard transfer Malik Mack (17.2 points, 4.8 assists, four rebounds). What’s the main thing that he does that will separate him from other players at his position in the Big East?

Cooley: He can really score. He can really facilitate. He’s a natural leader and a very talented shooter. He can do it in a lot of different ways, but the biggest thing that he has is his feel — he has an incredible feel. He’s a natural leader and he does it every single day. He instills a lot of confidence in his teammates. And in addition to him, there’s not going to be a lot of people in America that can defend multiple positions the way that Micah Peavy (TCU) can. He’s an elite, elite defender that can defend five positions. He’s a multipositional defender and a multipositional offensive player. We’ll play him at the one, the two, the three, and the four. He adds a lot.

Rothstein: What’s the biggest thing that you know now about being Georgetown’s head coach that you didn’t know prior to taking the job?

Cooley: Prior to taking the job, my daughter was a student here and my wife did a lot of research regarding the school. It’s not a regional school, it’s not a national school — it’s a global school. What’s blown me away is the reach of people. The depth of that has been phenomenal and it’s been incredible for our student athletes. We’ve got a ways to go to build a program, but I’d say that’s been the biggest surprise to me.

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