Perhaps this is an NCAA coach trying to speak a trend reversal into existence. Perhaps
Chris Mooney is insightfully seeing around the corner. Mooney said as this season started that his two University of Richmond scholarship freshmen would redshirt, though each is healthy. The message: the Spiders believe 6-foot-6
Jaylen Robinson , from Jacksonville, Florida, and 6-8
Bryson McGlothin , from Plano, Texas, will remain at UR for five years. Robinson and McGlothin have "incredibly high ceilings. They could be really, really good," Mooney said. "We've talked to their parents, they've talked to their parents, and we've made that decision. I think it will really pay off for them and for us down the road.”
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The strategy seems risky in the transfer-portal era, especially for players who could be tempted at some point to play closer to home. Wait for freshmen to develop and for the window to open for playing time, and they may make their greatest impacts at schools other than the one at which they started. UR, in this case, could end up being no more than a training ground.
University of Richmond coach Chris Mooney said guidelines associated with Name, Image and Likeness “have to come at some point. Inevitably, they’ll be here.” 'Shift back' coming?
“This is such a unique time, and I do think that there’s going to be somewhat of a shift back where guys stay at their school for four or five years,” said Mooney, who has five new transfers on this season’s team. “And we feel like we’ve done well in the transfer portal, but we also feel like the best part of us is helping guys develop into better and better players.” It certainly doesn’t make sense to occasionally play Robinson and McGlothin for a few minutes in this season's games when a year of eligibility can be stored for the future. Then, they’re presumably players of higher quality and more physically developed. But that assumes they’re Spiders for the next four seasons. “I think things have changed so quickly and so dramatically, I just feel like naturally there’s a (swing coming) to go back the other way,” said Mooney. “Like there’s a difference in polling numbers than there are in what people are actually saying and thinking.
University of Richmond coach Chris Mooney: “I love Richmond and being the coach and having the responsibility of something that’s very public, making sure that we do it a particular way." “And I think that when student-athletes are looking at the springtime to make a decision, I think there’s going to be more and more people saying, ‘Well, he transferred, and it didn’t work out.’ Your friend, or somebody from your high-school team. And kind of just the evidence of transferring being automatically positive I think will dissipate, to a certain degree. “And I think guys will consider staying (at original school destinations) as a much more of a plausible option. It’s only me reading into it. I don’t have any evidence for that, but that’s what I feel like might happen. And I would think at Richmond, we’d be well-positioned for that to happen here first. “I just think it’ll just come back a little bit to it being a great opportunity to be somewhere and graduate at a place that you called home for four years.”
University of Richmond coach Chris Mooney: “This is such a unique time, and I do think that there’s going to be somewhat of a shift back where guys stay at their school for four or five years.” 'Inevitably' NIL guidelines coming
Mooney repeatedly has emphasized that he agrees with the intention of Name, Image and Likeness, and UR with him as coach has been quite active in the transfer market during recent years. He’s with the new wave. But Mooney and many, many other college coaches in multiple sports – think retired Virginia basketball coach Tony Bennett - have expressed discomfort with what has rapidly evolved into essentially a pay-for-play NCAA model. Guidelines associated with NIL “have to come at some point. Inevitably, they’ll be here,” Mooney said. Mooney passionately carries on in the NCAA industry, and in this recent interview said he very much enjoys his job. The coach in June agreed to a contract extension that runs through the 2028-29 season. Mooney, 52, is among 10 active Division I coaches with at least 600 games at their current schools. The others are Tom Izzo of Michigan State, Mark Few of Gonzaga, Greg Kampe of Oakland, Randy Bennett of Saint Mary's, Bill Self of Kansas, Leonard Hamilton of Florida State, James Jones of Yale, Scott Drew of Baylor, and Matt Painter of Purdue. “I do love the relationships with the players, the staff. We’ve had great staff, great people to be around,” Mooney said. “I love Richmond and being the coach and having the responsibility of something that’s very public, making sure that we do it a particular way. The competition is fun.”
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Mooney may have had his fingers crossed for good luck when expressing his redshirting rationale. He is in his 20th season at Richmond and continues to push with coaching colleagues across the country through the portal and NIL tsunamis that changed college hoops, and college athletics, from something it was not, to something it is. “I wouldn’t have signed up to have it done exactly this way,” Mooney said of current college basketball conditions. “Although I’m sure we’re in the midst of getting it to a more solid foundation. “But, for me, those positives still far outweigh the negatives.”
PHOTO GALLERY: University of Richmond basketball vs. Mount Olive
Richmond center Mike Walz scores a basket at the Robins Center on November 6, 2024, in Richmond, Va. Richmond forward Ryan Soulis reacts to scoring a basket at the Robins Center on November 6, 2024, in Richmond, Va. University of Richmond forward Jonathan Beagle tried to get past Mount Olive guard Kobe Jones at the Robins Center Wednesday night in the Spiders' season-opener. University of Richmond guard B. Artis White drove for a score against Mount Olive Wednesday night at the Robins Center.
