Episode 57 - Ed Cooley

The Rex Chapman Show with Josh Hopkins

On the latest episode of the Rex Chapman Show with Josh Hopkins, the guys are joined by the Head Coach of the Providence College Friars, Ed Cooley. The reigning Naismith Coach of the Year discusses the success he's achieved at Providence, and the trials he went through as a young man to get there. He has called himself a born leader, and the guys get into what makes a great coach, especially in the changing landscape of college basketball.

10:30 - Ed opens up about what he saw as a young man, and how he felt empowered by basketball, not the surroundings he grew up with in Providence.

14:00 - If he wasn't going to be a pro player, Ed recognized that he was going to find something that would keep him in basketball, and it turned out to be coaching.

15:30 - While playing at Stonehill College, Ed quickly realized that he was different from the rest of the white kids on campus, and he learned to embrace diversity when those opportunities presented themselves.

20:00 - Who were the coaches that set an example for Ed Cooley on what it meant to be a great coach? There are certain qualities every man needs to be a leader of young men, and nothing was more important to him than having patience.

24:00 - In a changing landscape for college basketball, Ed discusses what qualities he looks for in recruiting that makes a certain player a good fit for Providence College?

30:00 - Since joining Providence as the first minority Head Coach of the Basketball program, Ed has made it a point of emphasis to use his platform and profile to empower others around him. Give everyone an opportunity because of who they are, not just because of what they look like.

39:00 - How has Name, Image and Likeness changed Ed's approach at Providence? It seemed like all aspects of being a coach in this era of college athletics had changed overnight.

43:00 - "The Me Doesn't Become the We if we don't win. Period. End of Discussion"

45:00 - After signing an extension with Providence after this past season, Ed has made it a goal to one day be looked at as the greatest coach in that program's history. He wants to be a pillar of the Providence community for people to look up to.

52:00 - Ed enters this year as the longest tenured basketball coach in the Big East. How is he embracing being one of the leaders in college basketball with a changing of the guard with guys like Jay Wright and Coach K stepping down.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices