ADVERTISEMENT

Mooney A10 Coach of the Year?

I think Mooney gets it and really because of the whole story from last year to this year. He steps down from health issues. Loses best player in Burton to transfer. Picked 11th. And leads them to A10 title. Valentine has had a great year as well - so would expect he gets some votes. But given Mooney is the longest tenured, and overcame the health issues - I think he edges him out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WCUR11
I think Mooney gets it and really because of the whole story from last year to this year. He steps down from health issues. Loses best player in Burton to transfer. Picked 11th. And leads them to A10 title. Valentine has had a great year as well - so would expect he gets some votes. But given Mooney is the longest tenured, and overcame the health issues - I think he edges him out.
If they use prediction to reality we did better. If they use last season to this season, we were 7-11 to 15-3, Loyola was 4-14 to 15-3.
 
I think if we win the A-10 outright, Mooney wins COY. Now that we split it essentially, I think Valentine gets the nod. Worst to first is quite the accomplishment.
 
A10Talk on Twitter said it would officially drop today 🤷🏼‍♂️ but we know about the Twitter machine 😂.
 
I think if we win the A-10 outright, Mooney wins COY. Now that we split it essentially, I think Valentine gets the nod. Worst to first is quite the accomplishment.
well yeah, but Loyola wasn't supposed to be worst last year.
so Valentine failed miserably last season to pad this year's improvement.
 
Rothstein takes the easy road and declares a tie between Mooney and Valentine. Holmes POY with King on first team.

Rothstein is such a phony when it actually comes to advocating for mid-majors (and many other regards)--Mooney even spoke to a challenge for/from him and ... nothing still.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Eight Legger
Let me plant this seed out there. And I don't think it matters if Mooney wins the A10 COY (which I think he will) or if this team makes the NCAA tourney - which I liked their chances a lot more before the loss to Mason. Mooney is the coach at UR for the long haul at this point. And this season - he has earned everything he gets, which will include a raise, extension, and possibly COY. Given his long tenure already at UR, fact that he has kids now growing up in Richmond, and he is 3rd on all time A10 wins list - I think only behind Chaney and Martelli - I expect Mooney to be at UR for the next 10-15 years. I don't expect increased results - I just expect what we have seen the last several years. Mostly middle of the pack with some good years sprinkled in, and a rare occassion where we drop to bottom of league - but that is very rare and short lived. Mooney will stay long enough to possibly coach his own son at UR and will attempt to become A10 winningest coach.

And here is my prediction - he stays long haul, and so does Peter Thomas. And if Peter Thomas, who already filled in as head coach last year, sticks around long enough, and Mooney can end on a high note before leaving - Peter Thomas is the men's coach in waiting.
 
Advancing closer to his 20th season at UR, does he view 32 seasons at UR as a possibility?

“Geez, I don’t really know,” Mooney said. “I mean I would say that my younger son, Ryan, will be in sixth grade next year. And so I feel like whether he’s through 12th grade, or he’s through college, would probably be a determining factor from my end.

“That could be something that we looked at down the road.”
 
You think Thomas is going to wait 15 years to become head coach here? Lol.
Well - two things to that nature.

1) You have to get opportunities to become a head coach elsewhere. And frankly - under Mooney - that doesn't happen for assistant coaches. In his long tenure here at UR - only 1 guy (McGeehan) has left to become a head coach, and that was following the height under Mooney - back to back appearances and a sweet 16. So unless UR makes multiple appearances in a row or makes a deep run at the right time - I don't think other head coaching jobs are calling. Could he leave to be an assistant elsewhere - sure. But he has done that - and now returned to UR.

2) Money - don't forget, something often overlooked - after good seasons like this, and especially after NCAA appearances - the head coach is not the only person who gets a raise. So does the staff, and usually the coach has a big say in that when negotiated their own raise and packages for their staff. And Mooney strikes me as a guy willing to fight for his staff and give them a bigger piece of the pie when he can. This is purely a guess - but if Mooney is making over 1 million as head coach per year at UR, then Peter Thomas is probably making (or should be making) 200K or a little more. Would hate to think the drop-off from Head Coach to lead assistant is that large or larger. But making 200K-300K a year at UR, with a really good sense of job security - which in college basketball is hard to come by at most places. Yeah - I could see him waiting. Seems like a long time to wait, but I don't think anyone, myself included - thought Mooney would have stayed this long either.
 
imo, if he wants to be a HC and the opportunity comes up to be a high level assistant (Associate HC) at a higher major, then that's the next step. same with Boyden.
 
Let me plant this seed out there. And I don't think it matters if Mooney wins the A10 COY (which I think he will) or if this team makes the NCAA tourney - which I liked their chances a lot more before the loss to Mason. Mooney is the coach at UR for the long haul at this point. And this season - he has earned everything he gets, which will include a raise, extension, and possibly COY. Given his long tenure already at UR, fact that he has kids now growing up in Richmond, and he is 3rd on all time A10 wins list - I think only behind Chaney and Martelli - I expect Mooney to be at UR for the next 10-15 years. I don't expect increased results - I just expect what we have seen the last several years. Mostly middle of the pack with some good years sprinkled in, and a rare occassion where we drop to bottom of league - but that is very rare and short lived. Mooney will stay long enough to possibly coach his own son at UR and will attempt to become A10 winningest coach.

And here is my prediction - he stays long haul, and so does Peter Thomas. And if Peter Thomas, who already filled in as head coach last year, sticks around long enough, and Mooney can end on a high note before leaving - Peter Thomas is the men's coach in waiting.
You know what they say predictions are like a**holes, everyone has one. I am not a fan of Mooney at all, that is well established. But certainly, he deserves his due this year and with this year and the NCAA run we had 2 years ago, yeah, he isn't going anywhere for a bit.

I think to predict out that PT is head coach in waiting is entirely premature. A lot is going to change over the next 5 years, Hardt isn't going to be here that long, who knows about Queally's involvement and if he likes PT as much as he likes Mooney and not only that if he would go to bat for him. And who knows what opportunities open up for PT.

Regardless, I feel that we are a big enough job that we aren't just going to crown the second in command as the new head coach. I think we will have a full national search, if any of the assistants want to compete for the job, sure throw your hat in, but it would be malpractice not to open it the job up to the best possible candidate you can get.
 
Everything on this board is premature - sometimes in more way than one.

And with some off time before our next game and fact that I believe (my opinion) that if and when Mooney wins COY of the year this year - he will become untouchable in that barring an NCAA violation, I don't see anyway the school ever fires him. And if he makes the NCAA tourney this year - there is 0 chance he will ever be fired from UR. He can coach here as long as he wants.

And assuming he keeps up his normal level of winning, which I said - mainly middle of the pack with a few up years, and very few down years - AND assuming Peter Thomas sticks around for all of this and doesn't leave AND assuming when and if Mooney decides to step down, he leaves on a high note (tough to hire the assistant coach if the team just finished 10-20) - then I could see a scenario - Peter Thomas, long time assistant, former walk-on and player who earned a scholarship, former coach who left and came back and stuck for 15 years - gets the nod. Its a lot of IFs in there - but its a Monday and the Spiders have a lot of downtime.
 
Most of the A10 pundits seem to be more impressed with Valentine and his “worst to first” achievement, so Mooney may have to hope for the shared COY award like I think Rothstein chose to do. Guess we will see shortly what the A10 decides.
 
Mooney COY, King and Holmes co-POY. Dji shares Most Improved with Diggins. Quinn on the second team. King also on all-academic.

 
Last edited:
Mooney COY, King and Holmes co-POY. Dji shares Most Improved with Diggins. Quinn on the second team. King also on all-academic.

That is a classy group. We are very proud of them.
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT