When Providence head coach Ed Cooley arrived at Madison Square Garden for BIG EAST media day recently, he was in fine spirits and, as usual, dressed to the nines. That was in direct contrast to his previous visit to the World’s Most Famous Arena last March, when Cooley was forced to drape a Gatorade towel around a split in his britches as his Friars lost in overtime to Villanova in the BIG EAST Tournament title tilt.
Gone from that game, aside from Cooley’s pants, is the talented triumvirate of Rodney Bullock, Kyron Cartwright and Jalen Lindsey, three of the Friars’ top four scorers who also accounted for 71 percent of their 3-pointers and 54 percent of the team’s assists.