LutherRackleyRulez
03-07-2010, 12:24 PM
Per New York Times......
Coach Did Odd Jobs on Way to a Top Job
RICHMOND, Va. — When the Richmond men’s basketball team gathered at midcourt during a recent practice, it was difficult to discern the head coach from his players.
Wearing a T-shirt and shorts, Chris Mooney, 37, stood with his team without standing out. He has a trim build, thick brown hair and a face that could make a bartender think twice. But his youthful appearance belies a winding basketball journey.
After Mooney graduated from Princeton in 1994, where he was an all-Ivy League forward for Coach Pete Carril, he worked as a law clerk, a high school English teacher and a kind of wedding planner. Coaching basketball, financially speaking, was a side job.
But Mooney was grinding toward an opportunity like this one.
This season, he has already led Richmond (24-7) to the most regular-season wins in its 96-year history. The Spiders, who have defeated Florida, Missouri, Mississippi State and Temple, will probably reach the N.C.A.A. tournament for the first time since 2004.
“Chris always thought this group of kids could do something special,” said Mooney’s wife of 12 years, Lia. “It’s been amazing.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/sports/ncaabasketball/07richmond.html?ref=sports
Coach Did Odd Jobs on Way to a Top Job
RICHMOND, Va. — When the Richmond men’s basketball team gathered at midcourt during a recent practice, it was difficult to discern the head coach from his players.
Wearing a T-shirt and shorts, Chris Mooney, 37, stood with his team without standing out. He has a trim build, thick brown hair and a face that could make a bartender think twice. But his youthful appearance belies a winding basketball journey.
After Mooney graduated from Princeton in 1994, where he was an all-Ivy League forward for Coach Pete Carril, he worked as a law clerk, a high school English teacher and a kind of wedding planner. Coaching basketball, financially speaking, was a side job.
But Mooney was grinding toward an opportunity like this one.
This season, he has already led Richmond (24-7) to the most regular-season wins in its 96-year history. The Spiders, who have defeated Florida, Missouri, Mississippi State and Temple, will probably reach the N.C.A.A. tournament for the first time since 2004.
“Chris always thought this group of kids could do something special,” said Mooney’s wife of 12 years, Lia. “It’s been amazing.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/sports/ncaabasketball/07richmond.html?ref=sports