Now that the season is over for the Fairfield University men's basketball team, the speculation about the future of coach Ed Cooley will take center stage around campus.
The Stags fell to Kent State, 72-68, on Sunday in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament at Webster Bank Arena. Fairfield finishes the season 25-8. Derek Needham scored 20 points to lead Fairfield, while Ryan Olander scored 15 and Yorel Hawkins added 11.
The Cooley watch now begins in earnest. He is reportedly the top choice to become the next head coach at Providence, which fired Keno Davis after the Friars finished 15-17 this season and 4-14 in the Big East. Cooley is a native of Providence. He also has strong recruiting connections in the Northeast after serving as an assistant at Boston College before going to Fairfield.
Cooley, who took over as the Stags' coach in 2006, has built a solid program. The team has made consecutive postseason appearances and has improved each season. The Stags went 13-19 in his first season, and they have since gone 14-15, 16-14, 23-11 and 25-8. He won the Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year Award in 2010, which is presented to the top minority men's basketball coach in the nation. The U.S. Basketball Writers Association honored him this season as the District 1 Coach of the Year.
Needham and Olander are among the players returning next year for the Stags, who won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season title. The Stags lost to St. Peter's in the semifinals of the conference tournament. The regular season title was Fairfield's first since 1995-96.
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