When Richmond athletic director Jim Miller announced the hiring of Chris Mooney as head coach of the Spiders on May 6, 2005, he said Mooney would "attract student-athletes who make the community proud, while sustaining Richmond's place among the Atlantic 10 elite."

By the time Mooney coached his first game for the Spiders that fall, the team was down to seven scholarship players and it was clear that the Philadelphia native had a bigger challenge than sustaining success. He had to create some from scratch.

Now as Mooney's first recruiting class enters their senior season, it is clear he has attracted student-athletes who make the community proud and he has the Spiders among the Atlantic 10's elite. Only four teams have finished in the top-5 of the league in each of the past two seasons, Xavier, Temple, Saint Joseph's and Mooney's Spiders.

And as Mooney enters his fifth season at Richmond, the Spiders are picked to finish third in the Atlantic 10, the highest preseason ranking since joining the league.

Richmond has received unprecedented preseason national attention for the 2009-10 season, as Blue Ribbon College Basketball Preview wrote the Spiders have "had college basketball pundits Twittering a blue streak all summer about their merits as a rising star."

Mooney appeared on ESPNU with Andy Katz and college basketball analysts from Katz to Jay Bilas to Fox Sports' Jeff Goodman have been writing about the Spiders' wealth of talent, mentioning Kevin Anderson, David Gonzalvez, Dan Geriot and Justin Harper in their blogs and articles.

The talent level that Mooney and his staff have recruited to Richmond is being called the deepest in school history and the Atlantic 10 coaches seem to agree. Richmond was the only team in the conference to have three players earn preseason all-conference honors with Anderson (First-Team), Gonzalvez (Second-Team) and Geriot (Third-Team) earning the respect of the league's coaches.

But the program Mooney has built is more than just preseason hype, the Spiders have achieved plenty of success in his tenure at Richmond.

Last season, despite playing without Geriot, Richmond won 20 games for the 16th time in school history, defeating a ranked opponent (No. 17 Xavier) in the Robins Center for the second-straight season. In 2007-08, Mooney led the Spiders to a win over No. 16 Dayton and Virginia Tech in the Robins Center on their way to fourth-place finish and a first-round bye in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Mooney and his staff have recruited and mentored one of the best point guards in the nation in Anderson, who was a Second-Team All-Atlantic 10 selection last year and was listed as the No. 17 best point guard in the nation by Lindy's. Gonzalvez was ranked as the No. 39 best shooter in the country by Fox Sports' Goodman and Geriot was tabbed as the No. 23 ranked center in the nation by Lindy's.

And while Mooney played at Princeton and employs fundamentals of the Princeton offense, the Spiders have no problem scoring and pushing the tempo, averaging 70 points per game last season and setting a school record with 2,518 points.

Since high school Mooney has been a part of setting the school record for wins in a season as a player at Archbishop Ryan High, as a player at Princeton, as a coach at Lansdale Catholic High, as a coach at Beaver College and as a coach at Air Force.

Mooney was hired as a Division I coach at the age of 31, taking over at Air Force after serving three years as an assistant coach and one year as an associate head coach on Joe Scott's staff.

The Falcons posted their second best all-time record (18-12) in Mooney's first year at the helm, while setting a program mark in three-pointers (266) and leading the nation for the third consecutive year in fewest points allowed per game (54.3). His 18 victories were the most by a first-year head at Air Force.

Under Mooney's direction, Air Force ranked second in Division I for fewest turnovers per game (9.8) and third in turnover margin (+6.6). That is a trend that has carried over to Richmond as the Spiders led the Atlantic 10 in fewest turnovers per game (12.00) in conference games in 2008-09. The Falcons, who received votes in the national polls, were one of only two Mountain West Conference teams with five all-conference honorees.

In his final season as Air Force's associate head coach, Mooney was instrumental in guiding the Falcons to their most successful season. The 2003-04 squad went 22-7, won the Mountain West Conference regular-season championship with a 12-2 mark, and earned the program's first NCAA Tournament berth since 1962.

In conjunction with the on-court success, Mooney fostered strong relationships in the community. Air Force's home attendance increased every season Mooney spent in Colorado Springs, including an all-time high in 2004-05. The Falcons enjoyed a program-record 24-game home win streak during his last two seasons.

By fostering connections to alumni, Mooney helped build a network that enabled Air Force to travel to Sweden and Denmark, and the Spiders visited Spain in the summer of 2008. He believes being a recognizable and active part of the community is essential, for his entire program.

During his playing days for Hall of Fame coach Pete Carril at Princeton, Mooney twice earned the B.F. Bunn Trophy, given annually to the varsity basketball student-athlete who, through sportsmanship, play and influence, contributed most to the sport at the school. He finished second for Ivy League Rookie of the Year as a freshman, honorable mention all-conference as a sophomore, First-Team All-Ivy League as a junior and Second-Team All-Ivy his final season.

A 1994 graduate with a B.A. in English, Mooney led Princeton to the NCAA Tournament twice following a pair of conference titles. The four-year letterwinner amassed 1,071 points, which ranks 20th on Princeton's all-time scoring list, and started all 107 games in his career. He currently ranks seventh on Princeton's career list with 142 career three-pointers and is one of five Princeton student-athletes to score 1,000 points, grab 350 rebounds and dish 200 assists.

Following his playing career, Mooney took over the reigns at Landsdale Catholic High School at the age of 22 and Division III Beaver College (now Arcadia University) at the age of 25. In his second year at Beaver College, Mooney led the team to a school-record 16 wins and a playoff berth in the conference tournament.

Mooney is married to the former Lia Chomat, a Princeton graduate who also has a doctorate in psychology from Penn. The couple have a son Danny, who was born in May 2009.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT MOONEY AND THE SPIDERS
"I have a great amount of respect for the program Chris is building there..Richmond, they're just one of the best teams around."
Dayton coach Brian Gregory after the 2009 Atlantic 10 Quarterfinal match-up between the Flyers and Spiders

"I really think Richmond is a hard team to guard. Tonight we lost in large part due to Richmond's high-level offense. Fifty-one percent from the floor, eight turnovers, just a terrific offensive night and our defense had no answer. We didn't have an answer for Kevin Anderson and we didn't have an answer for Richmond."
Former Xavier coach and current Arizona coach Sean Miller after the Spiders' 80-75 win over the No. 17 Musketeers in 2008-09

"They are so well coached. What (Chris Mooney) has done with this young basketball team is impressive. Richmond has a very good basketball team. Those guys are good players, they can shoot it and run their stuff. I think they have a really good team and I'm happy to come out of here with a win."
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim after the Spiders were edged by the Orange 76-71 in the Carrier Dome

"They are so well coached. What Chris has done with this young basketball team is absolutely incredible. I've watched probably every game they've played this year and the progression of this team getting better is impressive. They are a very good team."
Oklahoma State Coach Travis Ford, formerly of UMass

"Give Richmond a ton of credit, Chris is doing a great job with that team. They are young, but he has added some athletes with ability and quickness, so that is good in that type of offense. It's when they are playing defense well they can beat people. That's how they beat Virginia Tech. They are successful causing problems, containing penetration and getting steals."
Dayton Coach Brian Gregory after the Spiders' 80-63 win over No. 16 Dayton

"It doesn't happen overnight. What their doing here I think is magnificent. I love their young players and I can see this thing in the right direction. I like this basketball team. The young kids give them some energy and Gonzalvez has taken his game to the next level. They've got another year in the system, and the system is revved up right now. You see them pushing it a lot more, and really defensively they have made great strides. I'm extremely impressed with their players and how they play. "
Virginia Tech Coach Seth Greenberg after the Spiders' win over the Hokies

"Coach Mooney is one of the best young minds in the game."
Andy Katz, ESPN.com

"Chris is a bright guy who is a hard worker. Guys want to play for him because he is tough and personable. His offense is more open than the traditional Princeton style, more freedom and less restriction. He is a special guy. I'm sure he will be very good for Richmond."
Bill Carmody, Northwestern head coach

"Chris Mooney's pedigree as a player at Princeton and his coaching background at Air Force are a great fit for the University of Richmond. Spider basketball teams will be well-coached by someone with great energy and integrity."
Fran Fraschilla, ESPN college basketball analyst