This past weekend I attended the 2nd Annual Friends of Friar Basketball Charity Golf Outing at the Cranston Country Club. After raising over $13,000 last year at the inaugural golf outing, the 2014 version appears to have been even more successful. The final numbers are not in as of this writing, but I was told that it should be somewhere between $13,500 and $15,000. That is especially impressive when you consider that the total cost of the outing is only $125! Another big part of this year’s success was the number of former players who attended. There were players from all era’s going back to the 1970’s like Nehru King and moving to present day with the likes of Ryan Gomes and Jeff Xavier.
The night before the golf was played Ed and Nurys Cooley hosted over 100 former players and, thanks to the FOFB board members, PC supporters at their lovely home for a BBQ. I was lucky enough to get invited and it was an amazing experience. Coach Cooley was thrilled to be hosting all the former players and spoke strongly about how the Big East Championship in 2014 wouldn’t have been possible without the players who came before last year’s team. Since Day 1 as the Friars’ head coach, Cooley has been a big proponent of welcoming former players back and trying make them feel welcome and part of the current program.
That’s also the mission of the Friends of Friar Basketball organization. On their website, the 501c3 organization says “our mission is to bring together members of the Friar Basketball family, including past players, coaches and supporters, to bolster the community within the Friar family through networking, mentoring, and charitable donations.” I would say that last weekend nailed all the check boxes.
The golf outing was very well run and all the players had a great day on the course and under the tent for dinner afterwards. It was awesome to witness the camaraderie that exists among all the former Friar players across all generations. I look forward to attending the 3rd annual event in August 2015.
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