 Cooley was named MAAC Men's Basketball Coach of the Year and was the USBWA District 1 Coach of the Year.On March 22, 2011, Cooley returned to his hometown and the Big East, replacing Keno Davis as head coach at Providence College, becoming the 15th head coach in program history.Cooley began to reinvigorate the program by recruiting six consensus Top 100 recruits in his first three years.