BEHAVIOR: A Deeper Dive into Ed Cooley’s Recruiting Tools

Ed Cooley has a secret weapon in communicating with recruits

A few short weeks ago, your Georgetown Hoyas head coach, Ed Cooley, spoke with Big East Rewind about all-things basketball. In the interview, Cooley specifically talks about the “speed-dating” era of recruiting, getting to know players, and his mission to developing men. More specifically, he said he looks for (1) an intention to graduate, (2) high integrity and character, and (3) gratitude and appreciation for the opportunity to be at a prestigious university. In the interview video, Cooley even waved around a report from an assessment tool he apparently uses to better communicate with recruits. This tool is likely from Profile, LLC.

At the on-campus media day, Ed Cooley told the local and student press that “hopefully, we identified the right people” and “it is our hope that we did the right thing int he recruiting world, to bring people here that can help get [] a couple more wins…”

At the media day, he elaborated more saying, “… as a staff, we have to identify the core values of what it takes to play at Georgetown under my leadership … incredible gratitude and appreciation, unselfish approach, obviously the word ‘tough’ always comes into mind when you think about us building our identity and chemistry as an organization, and making sure we’re community based.”

Some of the recruiting discussion from Big East Rewind also revealed that Cooley has some recruits fill out a behavioral assessment test to help guide conversations about a player’s values. Cooley refers to it as a “DISC Assessment.”

Depending on where you look, DISC stands for Dominance, Influence, Steadiness (or Stability or Support), and Conscientiousness (or Compliance or Cautiousness). Personality assessments have been around for a while, but DISC appears to have moved to the industry leader.

Perhaps DISC is more commonplace with recent graduates and/or corporate America these days, but the scientific journals regarding DISC and athletics seem fairly recent (2021, 2022, 2023), despite the seemingly obvious need for a coach to connect emotionally with his student athletes.

The NCAA offers help to programs in using DISC tests and results, presumably as a tool to improve emotional intelligence and communication in furtherance of mental health. According to the NCAA:

The Profile DISC assessment aids participants, regardless of their role or title, with understanding their individual behavioral styles and preferences in relation to those with whom they interact most often. This assessment provides a common language when addressing these topics and methods to better relate to others. It also provides additional strategies to build more effective relationships within the workplace and athletic setting. Participants also receive the Core (Values) Assessment results through the DISC assessment. Core provides an in-depth look at what we care about most, from a list of 28 possible core values, to provide participants with an understanding of the driving factors that motivate their actions.

The NCAA offered that, for the “2022-23 academic year DISC Assessments are available at no cost for Division I, II and III” and “Additionally, DISC is being offered through a new provider – Profile, LLC.”

From a January 2024 blog post entitled “Rebuilding Camelot,” it appears that Cooley works with Profile, LLC extensively for his behavioral analytics and there are some further insights into this collaboration. Here are some relevant portions:

• Rejuvenating Georgetown basketball is a challenge, and Cooley simply couldn’t say no. There is, however, a wide chasm between accepting the challenge and realizing it. The to-do list is endless. Meet and greets. Fundraise. Recruit. Practice plan. Game plan. Learn the city. Learn the campus. Discover strengths and fortify them. Unveil weaknesses and repair them. Beneath it all, though, runs a common denominator: understand people.
• “Who are they? What are they? Where are their strengths and blind spots? How will they help me? How can I help them? Are they wired to work with me?” Cooley says. Critical questions with answers that build the foundation of success. Finding those answers, Cooley says, became incredibly clear because of his work with Profile. “It helped me get to the soul of Georgetown University, to the soul of our coaches, our support staff, and ultimately the players. Man, it is really powerful.’’
• Cooley is an all-in convert to Profile now. He was not initially. Coaches are inherently creatures of habit, especially when their habits create success. By the time a fellow coach started talking to him about Profile, Cooley had built a pretty successful career trusting his own gut: a winner at Fairfield, he parlayed that into the program turnaround at Providence. It’s not that he thought he was above a little help; he just worried that it might disrupt an approach that already worked quite well…

• At one point, Georgetown served as the very definition of the conference, if not its entire personification. His charge there is not merely to win basketball games but to restore that persona and brand. The only way Cooley knew to do that was to build a culture first. It’s a word that gets tossed around in sports often, but success usually follows when culture truly exists. Throughout his career, Cooley has found that culture really boils down to people good people and the right people.
• Using Profile at Providence reinforced that notion, but now he had to start over. Cooley took the job at Georgetown because he believed in the connection with the administration. He felt they shared values and goals, as well as a vision for the basketball program…
• Ordinarily, coaches have time to build up relationships with recruits – know them, their families, and their inner circles. They can watch games and look for talent, body language, and temperament to get a real feel for if a player suits them.
• The portal does not allow for such luxury. In Profile, Cooley has found an invaluable tool to help navigate a sped-up timeline. He asks recruits – those in high school and those looking to transfer – to take the assessment. He explains that he has, as well as his staff, and that the result sharing is a two-way street. Athletes will be able to better understand him as much as he is able to understand them…

• Profile, with the aid of a lifetime of experience, has shown him otherwise. It’s also allowed him to seek out traits that matter to him purposefully and that he needs to be an effective leader. Toughness, vulnerability, sacrifice, and gratification are important to Cooley, and he needs players who also value those attributes. “There’s only going to be one national champion every year,’’ Cooley says.
• “That team is going to have great players, but everyone has great players, and there are some unbelievable players who can never play at Georgetown or for me. So it comes down to, ‘who fits me?’ Take the rankings away. Do we suit each other? That’s how you win the lottery, and to me, Profile is the lottery ticket.”

From these posts, it appears that Cooley has recruits and prospective transfers take the DISC assessment and shares his results with the recruits in order to better discuss values and goals.

Right now, the top of recruiting world is (unfortunately) dictated by NIL, but the discussion will evolve. As Ed Cooley told Big East Rewind, financial literacy is important and investing in oneself (via education) is invaluable.

Ed Cooley is recognized as one of the most gifted communicators in college basketball and his attitude and care for the young men he coaches is a tremendous asset. While top recruits may be chasing the money—as they are well entitled to do, provided they have a solid grasp of the short- and long-term economics—the staff should do their due diligence to understand what motivates each student athlete.

Moreover, re-developing programs like Georgetown—that are known for decades of academic excellence and student athlete development—can make their hay with identifying (local) recruits who fit the culture in year 1 and emerge as starters in year 3 or 4.

Hopefully we’re not giving away Ed Cooley’s secret sauce with Profile, but the tools appear available to all NCAA programs who want them.

While time will tell the story of success in Cooley rebuilding “Camelot,” it’s refreshing to see and understand that there is a significant plan in building these teams moving forward, and not just guesses and whims.