PC men's basketball coach Ed Cooley is given the keys to the city of Providence

PROVIDENCE — Ed Cooley was presented with a key to the city on Tuesday, an honor reserved in historic terms for the most valued or trusted members of a certain community. 

What the Providence College men’s basketball coach represents is the notion of possibility. A public school kid who grew up uncertain at times where he would sleep on a given night has ascended to and thrived in one of the most high-profile jobs he could have ever wished to hold. 

Cooley celebrated his latest accomplishment in an afternoon ceremony at the Providence Career & Technical Academy. That’s just across the street from Central High, the school Cooley graduated from in the late 1980s prior to what is now more than three decades of playing and coaching at the college level. 

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Open doors for others who think they don’t have hope

“I was thinking about that — what am I going to do with the key to the city?” Cooley said. “I’m going to try to open up doors for other young men and women who think they don’t have hope. I want to open that hope door for them.  

“They are special. I want that to be a key to the future for other young men and women to believe.” 

Cooley was greeted by Providence mayor Jorge Elorza and a host of other dignitaries — public safety commissioner Steven Paré, police chief Hugh Clements, deputy police chief Thomas Verdi and school superintendent Javier Montañez. But perhaps his warmest welcome came from former state representative and senator Harold Metts, the Central basketball coach who led the Knights to championships in each of Cooley’s last two seasons at the school. 

“The thing I’m proudest of is his example of helping others,” Metts said. “When you are blessed, you pay it forward and be a blessing to others. Coach Cooley has done this and continues to guide and build young men.” 

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Cooley’s accomplishments over the last season with the Friars amount to a considerable list — first Big East regular-season title, first Sweet 16 for the program in 25 years, the first man from Providence to earn conference and national Coach of the Year honors. Cooley might have occupied the same bleachers as the students gathered for this assembly in a past life. He ticked off the educational path he traveled — Sackett Street Elementary, Roger Williams Middle and Stonehill College were all stops, and mentors like English teacher Paula Milano and baseball coach Dave Hanson offered a helping hand. 

“As young men and women, I need you to dream big,” Cooley said. “I don’t want you to be a mayor. I don’t want you to be a governor. I want you to be a president. I want you to be a CEO.  

“I want you to be somebody people want to work with and work for.” 

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Ed Cooley was All-State at Central High School

Cooley was an All-State forward with Central before prepping at New Hampton and enrolling in the Division II ranks with the Skyhawks. His scholarship covered tuition his family never could have afforded. Cooley’s natural inclination after college was to give back, something instilled throughout his career with the Knights. 

“Many of us didn’t have father figures,” Cooley said. “Coach Metts gave us an opportunity to get better. He gave us food. He gave us clothes. He even gave us those terrible uniforms that ended up being championship uniforms.” 

Providence College went 27-6 last season and showed its collective toughness on a regular basis. The Friars were 16-3 in games decided by single digits and were stopped only by eventual national champion Kansas, 66-61, in a Midwest Regional thriller in Chicago. Cooley picked up his 300th career win, 200th win at Providence, 100th win in the conference and mentored the league’s Sixth Man of the Year in point guard Jared Bynum. 

“This is somebody who’s believed in me through all the good times and bad times — the times I struggled and the times I prospered,” Bynum said. “I’m very appreciative to call him my coach and someone I can look up to and admire.” 

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Cooley signed on last month to serve as the honorary fundraising chair for Community Preparatory School. The planned Arts and Athletic Center will be constructed on Prairie Avenue, a street that cuts through the heart of Cooley’s home South Providence neighborhood. This latest presentation offered him another chance to be an example in the community where he grew up. 

“You can be that,” Montañez said. “You can do that. Or you can do more. I know the talent in this room — be more.  

“We set the ground rules. We lead you to a certain point. And then it’s up to you.” 

bkoch@providencejournal.com    

On Twitter: @BillKoch25