Richmond Athletics and men’s basketball head coach Chris Mooney have agreed to a contract extension, Vice President and Director of Athletics John Hardt announced Tuesday. Mooney, who led the Spiders to their first Atlantic 10 regular season championship last season, is entering his 20th season with Richmond. Terms of the extension were not disclosed.
“Chris is one of the most successful and respected coaches in college basketball and has been a tremendous ambassador for our University and Athletics Department for more than a generation,” said Hardt. “He has demonstrated the ability to adapt to major changes across college athletics in recent years, and I heard from Spiders everywhere how proud they were of our team’s accomplishments and character this past season. I’m looking forward to this upcoming year and many more with Chris leading our program.”
Mooney earned Atlantic 10 and NABC District 4 Coach of the Year Awards and was named a finalist for the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award in 2024 after leading UR to a program-record 15 wins in conference play and an Atlantic 10 regular season title, the first for Richmond since joining the conference in 2001. His 348 wins at Richmond are a school record and the third most by a head coach in Atlantic 10 history, trailing only John Chaney and Phil Martelli. Mooney has won a pair of A-10 tournament championships (2011, 2022) and a regular season championship with the Spiders while leading UR to 10 postseason appearances, including three NCAA Tournaments and four trips to the NIT.
“I’d like to thank my family, my players, my fellow coaches, John Hardt, Kevin Hallock, and Spiders everywhere for all of their support over the last few seasons in the face of really significant changes to the college basketball landscape,” said Mooney. “Together, we’ve been able to keep Richmond as one of the top basketball programs in the nation even as the fundamentals of competing at the highest levels of the game have shifted. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to continue to lead Spider basketball for years to come.”
Despite having eight newcomers on the roster, equaling the most in his tenure at Richmond, Mooney and the Spiders won 23 games last year, tied for the sixth most wins in program history. Richmond’s 11-game win streak from mid-December through the end of January — the program’s longest since 1935 — included a home win vs 16th-ranked Dayton, Mooney’s school-record 16th win vs a top-25 team at UR. The Spiders received votes in the AP Top 25 poll on two occasions and finished 15-1 at the Robins Center, their best home record since the arena opened in 1972.
Mooney will enter the 2024-25 season as the ninth-longest tenured coach in Division I, trailing only Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Greg Kampe (Oakland), James Jones (Yale), Mark Few (Gonzaga), Randy Bennett (Saint Mary’s), Leonard Hamilton (Florida State), Bill Self (Kansas), and Scott Drew (Baylor).
CHRIS MOONEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• 2 Atlantic 10 Tournament championships, 1 Atlantic 10 Regular Season championship, 3 NCAA Tournament appearances, 10 postseason appearances (3 NCAA Tournament, 4 NIT, 3 CBI)
• Reached 2011 Sweet 16, 2022 NCAA Tournament Second Round
• 8 20-win seasons, 12 winning seasons, 14 seasons at .500 or better
• 348 wins are most in Richmond history and third most in A-10 history
• 175 conference wins are fourth most in A-10 history
• One of 11 coaches ever to win multiple A-10 tournament championships; 2 A-10 tournament championships are tied for fifth-most of any coach
• 2 A-10 tournament championships are tied for second most of any school during his tenure (Temple – 3)
• Richmond and Saint Louis are only current A-10 schools with multiple A-10 tournament championships and three NCAA tournament wins during his tenure
• Owns 16 of the 31 wins vs top-25 teams in Richmond history
• 27 wins vs power-conference opponents (at least one in 15 of his 19 seasons)
• Reached NIT Quarterfinals three times (2015, 2017, 2021)
• Coached 31 players who went on to play professionally
https://richmondspiders.com/news/2024/6/18/mens-basketball-mooney-signs-extension-with-spiders.aspx
