UR associate men's basketball coach to be head coach at Campbell

Former University of Richmond men's basketball coach Kevin McGeehan accepted a head coaching position at Campbell University on Thursday, April 11.

McGeehan has worked on Richmond's basketball staff for the past eight years. He was promoted from assistant coach to associate head coach in 2008 and has kept that position for the past five seasons. McGeehan also coached with current head coach Chris Mooney at the Air Force Academy before coaching at Richmond.

"I think it's great for him," Mooney said. "There are so few Division I head coaching positions in the country. It's just an incredible opportunity for him."

"You never want to see someone leave," senior forward Greg Robbins said, "but coach [McGeehan] is ready and I am sure he will do a wonderful job there."

Bob Roller, the athletic director at Campbell, is "thrilled" that McGeehan is joining Campbell's basketball program.

"Kevin has been a part of building programs at all levels since the mid-1990s," Roller said. "He is extremely well-positioned to lead Campbell basketball where our alumni, student body and supporters want to go."

Campbell, located in Buies Creek, N.C., competes in the Big South Conference. Campbell went 13-20 this past season, but Roller believes McGeehan can turn the program around.

"There is a talented roster returning that needs a steady hand and the type of coaching that I know Kevin and his new staff will bring to our program," Roller said. Eight of the nine players in Campbell's rotation this past season are returning for the 2013-14 season.

The Spiders reached both the NCAA Tournament and the College Basketball Invitational twice in the five seasons that McGeehan has been associate head coach.

"Kevin has his master's in counseling, so he had very good relationships with all the players," Mooney said. "He was an all-around coach. He really was excellent at everything."

Robbins also said McGeehan communicated well with the players.

"What he says is always insightful and guys really listen to him," Robbins said.

"Kevin is more than ready to run his own Division I program," said Roller. "There can be no better example than Chris Mooney and the tremendous job that staff has done over the years."

Mooney compared McGeehan's upcoming challenge at Campbell to the challenges both Mooney and McGeehan faced when they came to Richmond in 2005.

"I think he will be able to draw on a lot of those experiences to help him ... as he builds their program," Mooney said.

"I think it says a lot about our program and what Coach Mooney is trying to accomplish here," Robbins said. "Any time an assistant coach accepts a head coaching job at another university, it speaks volumes about both the program and the coach he was under."

Richmond is likely to promote the director of basketball operations, Kim Lewis, to an assistant coaching position, Mooney said.

McGheehan could not be reached in the completion of this article.

Contact staff writer Jack Nicholson at jack.nicholson@richmond.edu