Chris Mooney is reengaged with University of Richmond basketball.
The Spiders’ coach for 18 years, Mooney is back and involved in all aspects of the program after undergoing surgery to remove an aneurysm in his ascending aorta on Feb. 28 at University of Virginia Medical Center.
Mooney, 50, announced his medical leave of absence on Feb. 17 and assistant coach Peter Thomas was named interim coach. When Mooney separated himself from the program, UR projected his recovery time to be four to eight weeks, though Mooney said that recovery length from such a procedure varies, depending on many factors. He spent about a week in the hospital before returning to his home.
“I feel great,” Mooney said Tuesday. “Today is one month (since surgery) and so I had a meeting with the surgeon yesterday at UVa, and he basically gave me the all-clear. He feels like I’m recovering very well. There are restrictions when it first happens and he lifted those restrictions, like driving, going back to work, and those things.”
Mooney added that he hasn’t experienced much pain since leaving the hospital, and he has been walking frequently with his family. Mooney said he doesn’t feel a great deal different than he did months ago because he had no symptoms when the issue was first detected during a physical examination.
“Even the chest, the incision, has not been a significant issue for me, thank goodness,” Mooney said of the discomfort associated with recovery.
He had no moments when he considered leaving the coaching profession, Mooney said, feeling confident throughout the process because medical personnel believed the heart issue could be thoroughly repaired.
“I didn’t have a feeling that it would be something that would linger or lead to something else,” Mooney said. “I had total faith that I would return.”
Mooney isn’t sure if the stress involved with his profession may have in some way caused the heart issue. He is not a smoker. Heart problems do not run in his family.
“That’s a hard one to say,” he said. “I’ve had probably three pictures taken of this in total, these CT scans. The difficult part in assessing something that could have caused it is that I don’t have pictures from two years ago or five years ago. And so it’s hard to say. The surgeon who performed the surgery kind of just chalked it up to bad luck.
“He did not mention stress as a cause, so I don’t necessarily know.”
A modified diet blended with a bit more exercise will be part of Mooney’s lifestyle moving forward. The coach said he most missed interaction with his players and staff members. “The camaraderie of college basketball,” he said.
With Thomas in charge, the Spiders completed their regular season by defeating Saint Louis in their first game without Mooney since he was hired in 2005 and then losing three consecutive games. Richmond won once in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament, and closed with a loss to George Mason in the second round at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
“I honestly thought (Thomas) did great. I think Pete’s number one priority is and always will be to represent Richmond in a first-class way, and I think that really showed through,” said Mooney, whose 2006-07 team was captained by Thomas. “I know he’s an excellent coach who was put in a unique and challenging situation, but I think his number one priority would be to be a great representative of Richmond, and I think he certainly did that, as well as coach the guys extremely well.”
Mooney returns to his job during one of the busiest stretches on the college basketball calendar. Programs are organizing their rosters for next season in response to activity in the transfer portal.
Richmond to the transfer portal lost reserve guard Malcolm Dread, who played in three games last season, and no transfers are currently headed to UR, according to Mooney. That is likely to change as Richmond looks to fortify an incoming class that includes a pair of freshmen, point guard Trevor Smith from Newport News and 6-6 Collin Tanner, of North Carolina.
Also, the Spiders are waiting on a decision from 6-foot-7 Tyler Burton, the team’s leading scorer (19 ppg) and rebounder (7.4 rpg), about whether he intends to become a professional, return to Richmond for his final season of eligibility or use that at another school.
Additionally, coaches in the spring begin formulating schedules for next season. The Spiders come off a 15-18 year and they went 7-11 in A-10 competition.
Mooney led Richmond to a pair of A-10 championships, in 2011 and 2022. UR last summer announced a three-year contract extension for Mooney. He is under contract with the Spiders through the 2026-27 season.