Ed Cooley sat in his office in the Walsh Athletic Center with his head in his hands, nursing a headache that has lasted 12, long, grueling days. A bottle of Tums sits in front of the men’s head basketball coach on his desk and he pops one into his mouth as he begins to talk.
‘You can’t write this, you can’t make this up,’ Cooley said on Tuesday afternoon as he pondered the past few weeks of the season, a stretch that culminated with senior point guard Jon Han’s decision to leave the team for good.
‘This has been an unbelievable learning experience for me,’ said Cooley.
The headache may have started way back in December, when sophomore forward Warren Edney, who was looking like an All-MAAC caliber player, went down with an injured ankle and Achilles.
Or, was it when junior forward Greg Nero’s back begin to act up, making him the equivalent of an extremely talented retiree, grimacing at every shot he took in the paint and forcing him out of action for an extended period of time.
Perhaps it was when Yorel Hawkins clutched his hamstring and said it was ‘so tight he couldn’t move,’ or when Herbie Allen collided with a Siena player and injured his wrist, or Anthony Johnson found himself in the hospital with a circulatory problem.
But the biggest blow had to have come when Cooley watched his senior point guard, Han, a pre-season first-team All-MAAC pick, crumble to pieces before his eyes. He watched as
Han’s shoulders dropped at every missed shot or call that went against his team. He watched as Han yelled at teammates on the court instead of supporting them, when he threw his shoulder into Robert Goldsberry’s chest and knocked him to the ground for playing to close.
Cooley was forced to sit Han down for the first 10 minutes of his last game at Alumni Hall, against Rider on Jan. 23, snapping a 69 game starting streak.
After a public blow-up with assistant coach Brian Blaney on Jan. 29 following a loss to Manhattan, Cooley would suspend Han indefinitely. Then the news came on Monday that Han had decided he would be leaving the team with just five games left in his career, officially for ‘personal reasons.’ Despite leaving the team, Han will remain at the University and plans to graduate with his class.
‘Honestly I was crushed by the decision,’ Cooley said. ‘At media day, I was thinking he’s the best player in the league, the best point guard not just in the league but in New England.’
Things changed quickly, but still Cooley says he will stick by Han, who will remain at Fairfield and finish his studies.
‘To come to that conclusion with 10 games left in someone’s senior year, I had some sleepless nights,’ Cooley added. ‘At the end of the day, he is still our kid and he is someone I want to see have the most success as he moves on in life.’
Han’s departure is the end of an era, one that began under former head coach Tim O’Toole and will end not with a celebration at center court on senior day, but instead in an office in the Walsh Athletic Center, an unfortunate finish to a remarkable career.
Despite seeing little success as part of a team in his three and a half years, Han found a lot of personal prosperity. He finished his career with 1,072 points and 526 in 110 games and is only the third player in Fairfield history to record 1,000 points and 500 assists.
‘It is a learning experience for both of us,’ Cooley said. ‘Hopefully we are both better because of it.’
Now, after a 1-1 trip to Buffalo, Cooley has to put the Han situation behind him and worry about the final five games. But to keep things in persepective, the Stags remain 15-10 and are 8-6 in the MAAC, which puts them in fourth place.
‘I think the Jesuits said a prayer for us. It is something I have not gone through as a player or as an assistant coach,’ Cooley said. ‘You basically don’t have a starting one, two, three, four or five. Who could survive that?’
‘It hasn’t been easy. The fact that we are above .500, it’s a miracle. Wow.’
Cooley has been as proud as ever with the way that his bench players have stepped up, especially sophomore Lyndon Jordan and freshman center Ryan Olander.
‘It is really a tribute to the way those guys have come together. I am really proud of those guys. As a coach you can only praise them for the adversity we have just gone through,’ said Cooley.
With a younger lineup on the floor, Cooley has realized that his coaching style must change, as the veteran squad that started the season is long gone.
‘I’ve taken a little of my emotion out of the game as far as how excited I can get can from a negative standpoint,’ Cooley said. ‘Because I think with a veteran team you get a little picky. With a young team you don’t take that approach.’
Instead, Cooley has decided to focus his efforts on building confidence and encouraging the Stags to play tough defense.
Now it is back to the ankle-biting, hard-nosed style that made the Stags a tough team to play during Cooley’s first two years, except, of course, without Han.
No matter who is on the court, if Cooley is on the sideline, the Stags won’t go down without a fight.
With five games remaining, Cooley better keep his Tums by his side, as it won’t be pretty, no matter what happens.
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