Head Coach: Chris Mooney (350-272); 20th season
Theme song: SOS by Rihanna
Last Season: By no stretch of the imagination am I implying that Chris Mooney should be removed with this theme song choice; it’s just how long he’s been at Richmond. SOS came out in 2005 and topped the US charts in 2006, Mooney’s first season at Richmond.
The Chris Mooney era at Richmond is met with mixed reviews depending on who you speak to. The last three seasons summarize why everyone has a different stance on the longest-tenured A10 coach. Last season, in A10 play specifically, was a resounding success for the team picked 11th in the official preseason poll when they clinched a share of the regular season title.
How good was Richmond? They began conference play on a three-game win streak, which turned into an 11-game win streak thanks to an 8-0 start. Jordan King immediately asserted himself in the A10 Player of the Year race with his ridiculous point totals, posting 22.1 points on 50% shooting from the field and 51% from three in Richmond’s first eight conference matchups.
With King, Neal Quinn, Isaiah Bigelow, Dji Bailey, and DeLonnie Hunt, Richmond’s five-man nucleus powered the Spider machine to their first-ever A10 regular season title. Mooney also won his first-ever A10 Coach of the Year award—silencing his critiques that have questioned his integrity as a coach for years at Richmond.
Unfortunately, the Spider’s postseason was cut short thanks to a red-hot Saint Joseph’s team. Erik Reynolds posted another postseason masterclass with 30 points, singlehandedly defeating Richmond and sending them packing.
The Spiders did earn an invite to the NIT, where Virginia Tech quickly expunged them. Richmond’s postseason was marred by poor three-point shooting—in both the A10 tournament game and their lone NIT game, Richmond shot under 28% from three. Richmond ran out of gas at the worst possible time after winning six of their last seven in the regular season. Fatigue is the only reason to explain their postseason blunders.
Predicting Richmond’s season is perhaps the most challenging task in the A10 media space. There are years where Richmond, on paper, could have a “bad” team but then do what they did last season. Then you’ll have years where they have expectations with what could be a great team and severely underperform. Mooney’s recruiting pattern is particular given that he runs the Princeton offense—he could just overload the team with talent.
Still, he chooses to fit the system, considering how difficult it is to fit into the system he runs. Richmond could have a hangover from last season, which is entirely possible; however, if they sustain their success, they could be a force in A10 play.
Arrivals: B.Artis-White (Western Michigan), George Washington III (Michigan), Dusan Neskovic*, Jonathan Beagle (Albany), Apostolos Roumoglou (UConn), Jaylen Robinson (F), Bryson McGlothin (F), Jack D’Entremont*
Departures: Jordan King, Isaiah Bigelow, Tyler Harris, Trevor Smith (T), Aidan Noyes (F), Neal Quinn
Returnees: DeLonnie Hunt*, Jason Roche*, Mike Walz, Collin Tanner, Mikkel Tyne
Potential Strengths: Chris Mooney has perfected his iteration of the Princeton offense over the years, and even despite some of his weaker years, he knows precisely what he demands for his system. Although he recruits a particular group of players and has a specific way of developing them, that doesn’t mean new players won’t be able to adjust quickly.
Dusan Neskovic will lead the offensive charge for the Spiders this coming season. Neskovic joins Richmond after averaging 14.1 points the last two seasons on 39% three-point shooting the previous two years at Dartmouth. At 6’8”, Neskovic gives Richmond a three-level scorer with size. He’ll pair with Western Michigan transfer B. Artis White to provide a veteran scoring duo for the Spiders.
White, who was on pace for 1,000 points at Western Michigan, did have to sit out a year for a medical issue. He enjoyed a bounce-back season last year, posting 10.4 points and 3.2 assists on 39% shooting from range. White looks to fill the void left by Jordan King, the co-player of the year last year in the A10.
They’ll be joined by Delonnie Hunt as the leader of this year’s Richmond team. Hunt did miss a month of last season with a hand issue; even then, he had several big scoring games to push certain matchups in Richmond’s favor. With King and Quinn gone, Hunt must also take on a more set-up man role while maintaining his stout defense. Sophomore Mikkel Tyne will see an uptick in production off the bench while being another ball hawk on defense.
Jonathan Beagle and Michael Walz are this season’s big-man duo. Beagle comes from Albany and is one of the better passing big men, averaging 1.9 assists during his two seasons in upstate New York. Beagle is no stranger to scoring either, producing 12.5 points per game with 9.5 rebounds as a sophomore.
Walz doesn’t have the same offensive volume as Beagle, but his value also comes from his passing. In the last two seasons, Walz has posted an assist rate of over 18%. Again, replacing Quinn with just one player will be hard. Mooney’s opting for the big-man platoon is ideal for sustained success. Division III transfer Jack D’Entremont will also add to this offensive punch. D’Entremont was a 1,000-point scorer at Washington & Lee with a career rebounding average of 7.5 per game. He’s a confident passer, averaging 1.7 dimes over his four years at Washington & Lee.
UConn stowaway Apostolos Roumoglou fascinates me. Although he appeared in 44 games for Dan Hurley, he lacked volume while in Storrs, so we know little about what he can be. From the available tape, Roumoglou can be a tremendous shooter from the outside. He has a clean release and the size to get off his shot over a heavy contest. He and Jason Roche will be deployed as set shooters, essential to the Princeton offense.
Freshmen Jaylen Robinson and Bryson McGlothin will see very little time under Mooney this season. Both are 6’6 and 6’7, respectively, with a solid baseline of athleticism. Mooney will likely use them as defenders if they see time to give Richmond extra bodies on the wing.
All told, Mooney can mix and match this season with his roster. Guys can play inside, outside, or even sideways this season, and it could still work. There are more guys this season who can play multiple positions compared to last season—much like Fordham, Richmond’s lineup flexibility could have limitless combinations.
Potential Weaknesses: Richmond’s defense was excellent last season; finishing 34th in the nation made them a force to be reckoned with. Thanks in large to Dji Bailey, Tyler Harris, Neal Quinn, and Isaiah Bigelow for playing like demons on that side of the floor. All have moved on—Bigelow signed professionally in Hungary, Quinn is professional in France, and Bailey is now a part of LSU’s program for his last season.
Losing your pillars on defense can make or break the season, leading to a more enormous dropoff than you may have anticipated. The Bonnies experienced such a drop-off two seasons ago after losing the most fabulous five-man class ever in their program’s history. Fordham was the other example of such a falloff last season; now I fear Richmond is up next for that.
Outside of Hunt, who will continue to be a menace on defense, some of the surrounding pieces don’t scream “plus defender.” Beagle’s career DBPM is -2.2, White’s is -1.0, Neskovic’s is -2.8, and so on. Is that to say Mooney can’t make these guys good defenders within a scheme where he can minimize their weaknesses? It’s certainly possible to do so, but going from a team last year with positive defensive ratings aplenty to players who historically are horrendous defenders is a red flag.
Every single season, the elephant in the room has to be addressed (it’s an A10 tradition at this point): Chris Mooney himself. There are mixed opinions on the longest-tenured A10 coach to date: someone who took the Richmond job when John Chaney was in his final season of coaching. Mooney’s tenure at Richmond has seen extreme highs while experiencing ridiculous shortcomings.
Here are some of the notorious examples:
-The postseason blunders of Richmond’s performances in the 2010 NCAA and 2024 A10 tournaments.
-Mooney’s mishandling of DeMonte Buckingham, a player on his way to becoming an all-timer at Richmond.
-Underachieving with Kendall Anthony & Cedric Lindsay, Jacob Gilyard & Grant Golden, Kevin Anderson, TJ Cline, and, most recently, King & Quinn.
-Having teams in 2015 and 2017 that should’ve been NCAA tournament teams, but only ended up in the NIT.
Those are some of the more popular complaints about Chris Mooney’s time coaching the Spiders. You’ll also get the fans who call him “overrated,” amongst other adjectives to describe his program.
I’m an avid defender of Chris Mooney—he’s still a good coach who just takes a little longer to develop his teams, as evidenced by his 2024 A10 Coach of the Year award. He’s won the league tournament twice and captured the Spiders’ first-ever regular season title. Mooney provides stability rather than a never-ending turnstile that most midmajor programs experience.
That said, with some of the blunders I mentioned along with the kinds of players he’s had, Mooney should have more than one coach of the year award, way more than two A10 tournament trophies, and more than one trip to the Sweet 16 and one to the round of 32 in the NCAA tournament. Also, how did it take him until 2024 to capture Richmond’s first-ever regular-season title?
The stability is excellent, but the success isn’t there for whatever reason. His tournament titles should be doubled to what he currently has. He should have at least two coach of the year awards and about five NCAA tournament appearances with more than one regular season title on his resume. The fans were so fed up with him in 2022 until they came out of nowhere and won the A10 tournament, then won a game in March Madness against an Iowa team from a superior conference—that postseason run gave Mooney another extension and more room to breathe.
Is it time to move on from Chris Mooney? Most Richmond fans will say yes; the logical answer is to let Mooney walk away when he’s ready. He still fields teams that compete yearly, and maintaining stability is valuable to generating success. As I have said to Richmond fans who want him gone for the sake of it (believe me, I know about his shortcomings), be careful what you wish for.
X-Factor: Michigan transfer George Washington III, much like Roumoglou, is another power five transfer from a bit of the unknown. Unlike Roumoglu, Washington III was stuck on one of the worst Michigan teams we’ve seen—Michigan’s eight wins were the lowest since 2007-2008, the first year of John Beilein. Sitting behind Dug McDaniel and Nimari Burnett should be a positive for Washington III, taking some of the things they did well and applying them to Richmond. Chris Mooney loves small guards, as evidenced by his most recent ones of King and Gilyard; I can visualize Washington III taking on steadily increased production, assuming he’s in Richmond for the long haul.
Outlook: Richmond is an odd bunch to predict every season because of how the roster is constructed. They’ve mastered a vicious cycle of running their program, which I detailed in my midseason report last January: build it up, win, be average for no reason, build it up again, then win again. I’m putting them low-ish again this season, a prediction I am 100% sure will be wrong again because I don’t know what to make of them on a year-to-year basis. These Spiders have the potential for severe offensive firepower, though serious concerns on defense are very apparent. With Mooney in charge, anything is possible, and this team can finish anywhere in the A10.
