A core piece of past Cinderella flashes by the Richmond Spiders in the NCAA Tournament won’t be on the sideline for the remainder of the season.
The university announced Friday that men’s basketball head coach Chris Mooney will undergo surgery next week to remove an “aneurysm in his ascending aorta,” according to a press release. That’ll prevent him from coaching throughout the remainder of the regular season and Atlantic-10 conference tournament, as well as any postseason invitation that follows.
Assistant coach Peter Thomas will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of Richmond’s 2022-23 campaign, according to the release.
“I want to thank Richmond Athletics leadership, my coaching staff, and our players for doing everything they can to make a difficult situation a little bit easier,” Mooney said in a statement. “I’m grateful to have a tremendous medical team to rely on, and I’m thankful to have the opportunity to fully focus on my health for the next few weeks. During that time, I’m confident that Peter Thomas, the rest of our coaches, and our players will rise to the challenge and have a successful end to the season.”
Mooney’s recovery features a four-to-eight-week timeline, and Richmond vice president and director of athletics John Hardt said in the release that the university’s “main focus is ensuring that Chris has the time and space to prioritize his health and family during this period.”
It was a surprising twist in their season, though, as the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Friday morning that Mooney was scheduled to address the Spiders at 1 p.m. about his health condition — though nothing from his appearance at Wednesday’s game, or his press conference afterward, would have suggested that he was dealing with a health issue, the outlet reported.
The Spiders hired Mooney in 2005, and he has served as their head coach for the past 18 years — compiling the most wins by a coach in program history across that time. He also guided them to two conference championships, including one last season that was followed by an upset of No. 5-seed Iowa in the opening round. Richmond also advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2011 with wins over Vanderbilt and Morehead State.
This year, though, the wins haven’t strung together for Richmond as they did in 2021-22. The Spiders sit at 13-14 overall, including 6-8 in their conference schedule, and have four regular-season games remaining before the conference tournament at the Barclays Center.
Credit: Source link
