Richmond males’s basketball coach Chris Mooney will endure coronary heart surgical procedure and miss the rest of the season, the varsity introduced Friday.
Mooney will endure a process to take away an aneurysm in his ascending aorta.
Assistant coach Peter Thomas will function interim head coach whereas Mooney is sidelined throughout a restoration interval that’s anticipated to last as long as two months.
“I need to thank Richmond Athletics management, my teaching workers, and our gamers for doing all the pieces they’ll to make a tough scenario just a little bit simpler,” Mooney mentioned in an announcement. “I am grateful to have an amazing medical workforce to depend on, and I am grateful to have the chance to completely deal with my well being for the following few weeks. Throughout that point, I am assured that Peter Thomas, the remainder of our coaches, and our gamers will rise to the problem and have a profitable finish to the season.”
Mooney has been the pinnacle coach at Richmond for 18 seasons, main the Spiders to a few NCAA match appearances. They went to the Candy 16 in 2011 as a 12-seed, upsetting 5-seed Vanderbilt within the first spherical earlier than beating Morehead State and advancing to the second weekend.
Richmond received the Atlantic 10 convention match final season, profitable 4 video games in 4 days, then upset 5-seed Iowa within the first spherical of the NCAA match.
“The College of Richmond and Spider Athletics are dedicated to doing all the pieces attainable to help Chris on his path to a full restoration,” athletic director John Hardt mentioned within the assertion. “Our essential focus is guaranteeing that Chris has the time and house to prioritize his well being and his household throughout this era. We look ahead to having Chris again on campus main Spider Basketball when he’s totally recovered and able to resume his duties.”
Richmond is 13-14 total and 6-8 within the Atlantic 10 this season, with 4 video games remaining within the common season. The Spiders are off this weekend, with Saint Louis visiting subsequent Tuesday.
