Duke’s rise from a relatively unheralded star at Classical High School in Providence to a program-altering prospect was meteoric. The story of his commitment blew up to the extent that it did because it was about so much more than just an elite recruit coming to PC — it felt like the final step in Ed Cooley’s restoration of this program.
Early in his tenure, Cooley spoke of building the program brick by brick. It has been a long climb back to this point. From winning a Big East title to appearing in five straight NCAA tournaments to upgrading the facilities on campus, Providence was finally providing answers to the questions that dogged the program for the past two decades.