Ed Cooley takes over at Georgetown with lofty aspirations

WASHINGTON — Ed Cooley’s task at Georgetown is to bring a once-storied program back to prominence in a competitive conference that has three teams still part of March Madness in the Sweet 16. “It’s a process, and the process now, because you have a changing landscape in athletics, you’ll have an opportunity to probably move it quicker than you would have 10, 20 years ago,” Cooley said. “My job is to move us forward from today.” Cooley’s mere presence is an acknowledgement that Georgetown needed a major change to become relevant again. It was certainly no accident that athletic director Lee Reed and school president John J. DeGioia used phrases like “new era” and “new chapter” when discussing Cooley. “We knew we needed a leader, someone who understood our identity and could reimagine Georgetown basketball to fit today’s unique basketball landscape.” That landscape, including players being able to profit off the use of their name, image and likeness and more easily transfer schools, are the biggest changes Cooley has seen since landing his first head job at Fairfield in 2006.