Richmond men’s basketball coach Chris Mooney will undergo heart surgery and miss the remainder of the season, the school announced Friday.
Mooney will undergo a procedure to remove an aneurysm in his ascending aorta.
Assistant coach Peter Thomas will serve as interim head coach while Mooney is sidelined during a recovery period that is expected to last up to two months.
“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 has been the head coach at Richmond for 18 seasons, leading the Spiders to three NCAA tournament appearances. They went to the Sweet 16 in 2011 as a 12-seed, upsetting 5-seed Vanderbilt in the first round before beating Morehead State and advancing to the second weekend.
Richmond won the Atlantic 10 conference tournament last season, winning four games in four days, then upset 5-seed Iowa in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
“The University of Richmond and Spider Athletics are committed to doing everything possible to support Chris on his path to a full recovery,” athletic director John Hardt said in a statement. “Our main focus is ensuring that Chris has the time and space to prioritize his health and his family during this period. We look forward to having Chris back on campus leading Spider Basketball when he is fully recovered and ready to resume his duties.”
Richmond is 13-14 overall and 6-8 in the Atlantic 10 this season, with four games remaining in the regular season. The Spiders are off this weekend, with Saint Louis visiting next Tuesday.