Hard disagree on the Rutgers/Penn State comparisons. Cooley’s win percentage at Providence is lower than Providence’s overall record as a basketball program in school history (61%).
Here’s a list of all coaches at Providence with a minimum of two seasons coached and their winning percentages, with NCAA tournament wins in parentheses. Cooley is really average.
Ed Cooley - 59.6% (1)
Keno Davis - 47.9% (0)
Tim Welsh - 52.8% (0)
Pete Gillen - 57.6% (3)
Rick Barnes - 58.7% (0)
Rick Pitino - 64.6% (4)
Joseph Mullaney - 66.4% (3)
Gary Walters - 38.2% (0)
Dave Gavitt - 71.3% (6)
Albert McLellan - 78.1% (0)
Under Cooley the average KP rank of his teams is 64.5. Under Keno Davis it was 84.33. Under Welsh it was 73.
He’s better than the average Providence coach, but Cooley’s acclaim has more to do with the weakening of the Big East and some luck with some really bad teams barely sneaking into the tournament (despite them being well below the average at large quality).
It has to be Howard with hopefully two assistants retained at this point.
I feel like Howard is like the Harbaugh search (Howard definitely doesn’t have the background or results), but anyone else at this point and you are gonna lose the majority of the fanbase.
Yeah I wish it’s Howard, I would rather take the big risk than settle for mediocrity. But I am almost convinced it will be Cooley at this point. I’m not sure how WM can say head coaching experience is a top priority, and then hire a guy with none.
Unfortunately, this is going to cast a poor light on Cooley if Cooley turns out to be Warde’s call. Will be very hard to undo the perception that any Howard interview was just carried out for form’s sake. Cooley won’t be the problem but the circumstances in which it unfolded certainly could sour an already skeptical fan base.
Let’s hope Warde is savvy enough to get way out in front of this one.
Given the perception of a fair process–with Warde making a good case for a Cooley hire–I would have been among those arguing that he be given his fair chance.
Cooley is a nice guy but it will shade very very badly on Warde. I can see a stable roster going into next season with Howard, Jordan or Shaka, but not with Cooley. I don’t know why Cooley wants to come knowing the welcome will be thin unless the money is significantly better. paying him more than Beilein plus the buyout will anger many people in the power and Warde is roasted unless Cooley pulls a miracle season 1.
Wojo plumps for Jordan, FWIW, warning about the dangers for Manuel should he screw this up:
The worries, with each known candidate, have all been given a public going over. Given that perceptions have revolved around just a handful of people for days now, I’d say the biggest immediate risk may lie in not handling the roll-out well. Warde can’t just hang whoever he chooses out there and watch the prevailing winds blow at him–he’ll have to sell him to the public and the fan base.
Cooley seems like a solid idea in terms of recruiting, but if we want someone who’s currently a head coach I don’t see how his resume is stronger than Odom at UMBC, Turner at UC-Irvine. Seems like a low-upside choice, if not one who will ruin the program or anything.
Also, this is a left-field one, but the D2 title was won again by Northwest Missouri State, they went 38-0 and have a 38 year old head coach named Ben McCollum. Took them from 12 and 10 wins his first couple seasons to low 20 wins for a couple years, then mid 20 wins for a couple years and the last 3 years an insane 90-5 record with 2 national championships. Very steady growth from bad to a powerhouse. They seem to shoot the best on 3s and turnover the ball at an insanely low rate, which sounds Beilein-esque and a great fit if Yaklich were to stick around. Massey Rankings apparently had them in the high 40s for all college basketball teams last year, which would mean he built a mediocre Big Ten team in Division 2 (this is basically where Indiana was), which sounds impressive as hell. I have no idea why some Missouri Valley school hasn’t hired him, maybe there’s a reason he didn’t get a job after they won the Div 2 title the first time a couple years ago.
Cooley may be an X and Os guy, but he’s an X and Os guy for an inefficient type of offense. When run well, the flex looks like “great basketball”, but it isn’t efficient and doesn’t suit the modern game.
I’m also skeptical how Warde can say he wants to take the time and make the right hire, and then go on to hire a friend of his.
Otherwise I think Cooley’s good. He’s a good recruiter (just above Beilein), and his players love playing for him. However I think the same could be said for Howard without the aforementioned two negatives.
Jordan provides stability but not much excitement, but I am cool with the idea. Jordan is also the one who will pair with Yak the best since he is more of an offensive coach. Jordan will certainly guarantees a very smooth transition. Howard is my #1 but I am not against Jordan at all.
Cooley is a nice guy thorough ad thorough, but he does not have chops to compete in Big Ten, and I can certainly see a wasted year 1 and a complete re-building in year 2.
Warde hiring his friend at a higher price than what we were paying Beilein is not going to sit well with a lot in the administration.
Juwan, having inched solidly out in front after today’s piece from Dylan. (I don’t see Howard being a risk, and think a move back to the NBA would likely only come after 4-5 years of success and therefore be hard to complain about.) Enormous upside in my view.
Shaka and Jordan in a dead heat. Both, under the right circumstances, could thrive in A2.
Cooley. Appealing person–might succeed. But I don’t see why one of the country’s ten best programs needs to spend big money and take a flier on someone of middling stature and questionable offensive acumen.
My take is almost the opposite of Wojo’s: manage the risk, yes; but choose someone who just might succeed in a really big way.
Of course not. It’s just not as efficient as a pick and roll based offense. If you run it really well, you’ll be fine, but there’s a reason it’s not as popular.
If you watch a couple of Providence basketball highlights from last year, you can see that they rarely utilize PnR. I personally can’t imagine Simpson and Teske not running the PnR that much.
Don’t get me wrong I love Ed Cooley and literally everything else about him. I was super high on him until I started learning his offense. Just not sold on the flex. If he can involve more modern concepts within the flex I’d be very happy.
