Providence College Basketball Coach Ed Cooley 12th Recipient of «Brighter Futures Award»

Providence – Family Service of Rhode Island, a statewide non-profit serving abused children and
many other Rhode Islanders in need, honored Providence College men’s basketball
coach Ed Cooley at its 12th annual Brighter Futures luncheon, Wednesday, (Oct. 26,
2016) at the Rhode Island Convention Center at noon.

Speakers included Family Service of Rhode Island CEO Margaret Holland McDuff;
Providence College president Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P.; John C. Simmons, president
of the Family Service of Rhode Island board of directors and executive director of
the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council; and Coach Cooley.

Coach Cooley is the first coach or athlete to receive the prestigious Brighter
Futures recognition, which is given annually to an individual or organization making
an outstanding contribution to the well-being of children in the community. The
coach’s work with his players on and off the basketball court, his father-son
basketball camp and his community involvement were the reasons for the recognition.

Past recipients include state Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, who is
co-chairing this year’s luncheon; Geoffrey Canada, former president and CEO of the
Harlem Children’s Zone; the Boston Red Sox, the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Red Sox
Foundation; and U.S. Senator Jack Reed.

Ed Cooley excelled as a player at Central High School in Providence, and later at
Stonehill College. After graduating he became a high school history teacher in
Massachusetts. From there he worked his way up from an assistant basketball coach at
the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth to head coach at Providence College in
2011, with stops along the way at Stonehill, the University of Rhode Island, Boston
College, and Fairfield University.

He was named Rhode Island High School Player of the Year twice and the Metro
Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for the 2010-2011 season. Coach
Cooley’s Friars made NCAA Tournament appearances in 2014 and 2015, and in 2014 won
the Big East Tournament title.

Major sponsors of the Brighter Futures luncheon included Malcolm G. Chace, Jr.; IGT;
Capitol Securities; Hasbro; Citizens Bank; Hinckley Allen; Deepwater Wind; Dimeo
Construction Company; Amica; the Cooley/Group (no relation); and the Peregrine
Group.