BUFFALO, N.Y. — Ed Cooley has been waiting for this moment his whole life.
For the first time since 1997, the Providence Friars are headed to the Sweet 16 thanks to a dominating 79-51 win over the No. 12 Richmond Spiders in the second round of the 2022 NCAA tournament.
Despite his team holding a lead for the entire game, Cooley said it didn’t hit him that the Friars would advance until just before the final buzzer.
“I was trying to grasp the moment, and Jeff Battle, who is our associate head coach, and is amazing, he said, ‘Coach, this is a wrap.’ With about 1:47, I still thought we were going to lose, and he made me laugh when he said that,” Cooley said. “I just can’t tell you how grateful I feel for our players, our college, our city. It’s hard to get to this point. We’re just a little school that everybody says, ‘Oh, it’s Providence.’ Well, Providence…
