Georgetown parted ways with Patrick Ewing earlier this month, ending an up-and-down tenure for the program’s all-time leading scorer. The job with the Hoyas was Ewing’s first at the major college level; he’d been an assistant in the NBA for more than a decade, but never a head coach, and never at the collegiate level.

It seems the administration is going with the exact opposite kind of hire for Ewing’s replacement. According to multiple reports, Providence’s Ed Cooley is expected to be the next head coach. CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein shared early Monday morning that Cooley’s home in Rhode Island had been listed for sale. Hours later, FOX Sports’ John Fanta reported the job is Cooley’s “barring a change of heart.” ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported a decision was expected at some point Monday.

Cooley has spent the entirety of his coaching career in the Northeast. He played for the Stonehill Skyhawks from 1989-94 and then immediately transitioned to coaching. He was an assistant at UMass-Dartmouth, Stonehill, Rhode Island, and Boston College for over a decade before getting the head coaching job at Fairfield in 2006.

In 2011, Cooley took over at Providence. In 12 seasons with the Friars, he has a 242-153 record as well as 7 NCAA Tournament appearances, a Big East Tournament championship in 2013-14, and a regular-season Big East title in 2021-22. Under Cooley, the Friars had a winning record in conference play 8 times in 12 years after just 3 such seasons in the 14 years prior to his arrival.

He was most notably courted by Michigan in 2019 before the Wolverines ultimately hired Juwan Howard. That courtship landed Cooley a multiyear contract extension with Providence. Thamel reported Monday that Providence offered another long-term extension with a raise to try and keep Cooley this time around.

Instead, he’ll exit one Big East program for another.

And he’ll most certainly have a rebuild job on his hands with the Hoyas, who have slipped significantly in recent years. A national power under John Thompson in the early days of the Big East, the Hoyas have won just 2 of their last 39 league games.