"I’m cherishing every moment. Before the games I’m staring into the crowd... This is something special that I’ve been a part of." On Ed Croswell and his continual improvement at Providence
Ed Croswell crossed the 1,000 point mark in a most fitting manner on Saturday night — by leading Providence with 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in an 85-72 victory over Villanova.
It was the latest great performance out of the Providence center who has won the hearts of Friartown, even if respect from the outside has been slow to come.
“I look around and I see all the media reports. Everybody talks about all the big men in the Big East. All of you, open your damn eyes, that dude right there is pretty good,” Ed Cooley said following the win.
“Give this kid what he deserves. Give him some love.”
Ask and you shall receive, Coach.
Two years ago, Croswell reaching 1,000 career points seemed unlikely. Cooley even joked on Saturday that he thought Croswell would get to one thousand fouls before scoring one thousand points back when PC recruited him as a transfer from La Salle.
He was a bit player on what may have been the most disappointing team of Cooley’s Providence tenure in 2020-21. Initially slated to redshirt, Croswell saw playing time that season when the NCAA changed its rules and granted everyone an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic.
Croswell played in 26 games, averaging 6.9 minutes, while putting up 2.3 points and 1.9 rebounds a night.
He completely rebuilt himself physically following that season, and came into camp looking like a different player — earning high praise from then-PC assistant coach Bob Walsh in an interview with Friar Basketball that fall:
“I love Ed. He looks great. He’s such a tough kid — tough player, just a great kid. He really works at it. He would sit on the side with his water bottle and a ball when somebody would be shooting or getting extra free throws and he would wait until they were done, and ask, ‘Hey, Coach, would you mind working with me?’ Then he’d stay an hour after practice.”
The results of Croswell’s hard work weren’t immediate last season. Then came the week in early December when Texas Tech and URI came to the Dunk.
He completely changed the tenor of a Texas Tech win that helped set the tone for the season by attacking the offensive glass and making all five of his shots from the field. Croswell followed that up with a 13-point (5-6 from the field), 15-rebound effort against Rhode Island a few days later.
“Ed Croswell, once again, had a cape on,” Cooley said after the URI victory. “It takes a lot of mental toughness to do what Ed Croswell is doing, sitting behind — and actually out-playing him right now — a first-team all conference player. I’ve talked to Ed about this on numerous occasions, I’ve never coached a player that has hung in there and dealt with adversity, and when the bell is called he answers it (like he has). He’s done that the last two games.”
He went for 24 points on 10-11 shooting from the field, with 21 rebounds, in two games during the week that seemingly turned his PC career around.
His game, and the future of the 2021-22 Friars, took off from there.
Croswell is almost a perfect Cooley player in many ways. Toughness, constant development, gritty not pretty, and a will that has made him one of the more beloved Friars in recent history.
Everything Croswell represents was on display on the biggest stage against Kansas in last season’s Sweet 16. Nearly 30 minutes into PC’s matchup with the Jayhawks, the Friars struggled to get much of anything going offensively.
Then Ed Cooley did what he does, imploring the Providence contingent at the United Center to come alive and give their Friars a boost.
Croswell responded by single-handedly dragging the Friars back into it on sheer will.
This season Croswell has been even better: 13.1 points, 7.3 rebounds (3.6 offensive), and 62% shooting from the field, while developing into a versatile defender capable of bodying big men like Eric Dixon and Ryan Kalkbrenner as he did this week, or protecting the rim. He has 26 blocks this season, and is second only to Devin Carter on this team in steals with 33.
From the outside looking in, there were all sorts of questions facing Providence heading into this season. And while Carter and Bryce Hopkins have, rightfully, earned all sorts of praise for breaking out in their sophomore years, Croswell has stepped into the void left behind by Nate Watson and been both a stabilizing presence for Providence, and a physically punishing force opponents have to deal with on a nightly basis.
Saturday was the latest reminder: A Philly kid winning a matchup against one of the Big East’s toughest in Eric Dixon, and helping lead PC to its first sweep of Villanova in 10 years.
Going head-to-head with Watson for two years hardened Croswell further, and helped prepare him for these types of matchups.
“We’ve been very fortunate and blessed here. We’ve had several very good players that have been in the middle. One of which was in the building today, Carson Desrosiers, who was a Big East champion,” Cooley said.
“For Ed to go against him (Watson) every single day, and learn from that, grow from that… to see them in practice every day it was like two behemoths — he really grew and developed from that.”
Earlier in the week, the finality of his Providence career seemed to hit Croswell:
“I’m cherishing every moment. Before the games I’m staring into the crowd, I’m looking around like, ‘This is something special that I’ve been a part of.’ I want to soak in every moment,’” Croswell said on Saturday night. “That’s how I feel, and I hope the last two games will be the best two games.”
He crossed the 1,000 point mark in a building that has become so important to him.
“Truthfully, I didn’t see that,” Cooley said of Croswell scoring one thousand in a Friar uniform when he was recruiting him. “I saw more of a defensive-minded guy who was still developing.”
“It’s been an honor to see somebody who works so hard and competes at an elite, elite level. He’s earned it.”
Still remember Croswell taking over that Texas Tech game and my friend turning to me and asking who is this guy and what did he do with Ed Croswell? One of the more unexpected player developments of the Cooley era. So much credit to him for how hard he’s worked to get to this level. You said it best: Croswell is a perfect Cooley player. He represents the toughness and culture that’s come to define this program. Great piece and an awesome tribute to the man they call Cheese!
croswell should be allowed to play at pc for the rest of his life