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Big pickup for Ed Cooley and the friars tonight. Paschal Chukwu 7'2" center from Fairfield Prep verbals to the friars. Another top 100 recruit for the Big East. Cooley said he would build it brick by brick and he is living up to his promise.

What a huge get for the Friars. This kid has tremendous upside and joins a talented, athletic group that's being assembled by Coach Cooley. PC is going places. Exciting time to be a Friar fan.

Wow, nice work guys. Here's hoping you continue the upward trend (except in cases where you play Marquette ).

Waiting to hear about Jared Terrell and Abdul-Malik Abu today.

Terrell and Abu won't be making the decisions known until their joint press conference on September 7. Friar fans are mixed on our chances with both, but tend to agree that the addition of Chukwu helps our chances. They have all played against or with each other in the New England Prep leagues as well as AAU, so there's familiarity, respect and in the case of Abu and Terrell, a real strong friendship.

I couldn't be happier that we have Ed Cooley as our coach. Repeatedly, I read how he is a relationship builder who won't be outworked. The overhaul that he is leading is remarkable, and in my mind, sustainable. The best days are ahead for the Friars

Friar82 wrote:Terrell and Abu won't be making the decisions known until their joint press conference on September 7. Friar fans are mixed on our chances with both, but tend to agree that the addition of Chukwu helps our chances. They have all played against or with each other in the New England Prep leagues as well as AAU, so there's familiarity, respect and in the case of Abu and Terrell, a real strong friendship.

I couldn't be happier that we have Ed Cooley as our coach. Repeatedly, I read how he is a relationship builder who won't be outworked. The overhaul that he is leading is remarkable, and in my mind, sustainable. The best days are ahead for the Friars

Thanks. I guess I was a week early in expecting the news today.

I agree that Cooley has done a phenomenal job at PC. I have a feeling that Cooley may stick around for the long haul; not everyone wants to keep moving on to the next best job. I think we could once again see the Friars as a major player on the national scene. I have a soft spot in my heart for the Friars. Two daughters went there and a son-in-law. So, I wish you guys all the best.

Chukwu mix if anyone wants to see his potential

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_vtMNuROVE

As of this pickup, 247sports ranks PC as the 10th best recruiting class in the nation, and they aren't done yet. Great work as Ed Cooley continues to be a recruiting machine. Now the team needs to get it done on the floor and advance to the NCAA again. Long overdue.

dmac80 wrote:Chukwu mix if anyone wants to see his potential

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_vtMNuROVE

As of this pickup, 247sports ranks PC as the 10th best recruiting class in the nation, and they aren't done yet. Great work as Ed Cooley continues to be a recruiting machine. Now the team needs to get it done on the floor and advance to the NCAA again. Long overdue.

Now that he's got the talent, Cooley's got to make sure that they don't kick away games like the one they lost to an injury depleted UConn team in the last game of last year's regular season.

Bill Marsh wrote:

dmac80 wrote:Chukwu mix if anyone wants to see his potential

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_vtMNuROVE

As of this pickup, 247sports ranks PC as the 10th best recruiting class in the nation, and they aren't done yet. Great work as Ed Cooley continues to be a recruiting machine. Now the team needs to get it done on the floor and advance to the NCAA again. Long overdue.

Now that he's got the talent, Cooley's got to make sure that they don't kick away games like the one they lost to an injury depleted UConn team in the last game of last year's regular season.

Agreed, now its time to win and not squander games. Last season they had like 6 healthy players for the first 7 or 8 games and they hobbled into league play catching up. Hopefully this year they are ready to go from day 1 and stay strong and healthy, but that can be said of any team.

dmac80 wrote:

Bill Marsh wrote:

dmac80 wrote:Chukwu mix if anyone wants to see his potential

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_vtMNuROVE

As of this pickup, 247sports ranks PC as the 10th best recruiting class in the nation, and they aren't done yet. Great work as Ed Cooley continues to be a recruiting machine. Now the team needs to get it done on the floor and advance to the NCAA again. Long overdue.

Now that he's got the talent, Cooley's got to make sure that they don't kick away games like the one they lost to an injury depleted UConn team in the last game of last year's regular season.

Agreed, now its time to win and not squander games. Last season they had like 6 healthy players for the first 7 or 8 games and they hobbled into league play catching up. Hopefully this year they are ready to go from day 1 and stay strong and healthy, but that can be said of any team.

I say this as someone who's been a fan and admirer of the PC program for a long time. Cooley has to prove that he can coach as well as he recruits. There was no excuse for losing to a depleted and hobbled UConn team in the last game of the regular season even if it was on the road. PC was the better team. And then to compound the problem by getting blown out in the BE tournament by a mediocre Cincinnati team whom PC had beaten earlier in the season was unforgivable. I realize that the kids were probably dejected after the UConn loss, realizing that they had probably blown any hopes for a tournament bid. Losing in OT probably made it all the harder to swallow. But it's the coach's job to bring the kids back after a loss like that. They did recover for the NIT where they made a good showing. Could have beaten Baylor if they didn't have to play the game on Baylor's court, but that's the NIT . . .

I'm not trying to be overly hard on Cooley because I like the guy and know that he can coach as he showed at Fairfield. I also realize that he was relying on some young kids at that point as well as the vets, but I was very disappointed in the way they finished up in those last to games after looking like they had gotten on a roll. But he's got to raise the level of his game to the level of talent that he's bringing in. He's still a young guy, only 43, so I'm sure that he's still learning on the job. Just hoping that he steps it up a notch.

Having said all of that, college coaching is 70% recruiting, so there are worse things than a coach who can recruit the best but blows a game here or there that he should have won.