Off the beaten path

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), May 16, 2004 | by TODD JACOBSON THE GAZETTE

He started every game with the Tigers -- he was the only freshman starter on Princeton's 17th-ranked team in 1990 -- and was a first- team All-Ivy League center for the 1992-93 season. He is 19th on Princeton's scoring list with 1,071 points.

Even while playing, however, coaching was never far from his mind. On his first recruiting visit to Princeton, Mooney told Carmody he wanted to coach basketball.

Mooney coached in the summers, working Princeton basketball camps and taking the reins of Archbishop Ryan's summer league teams.

"You could almost say he knew the game better than he played it, and he did play it very well," his father said. "He really seemed to know the game."

Carmody said Mooney doesn't get enough credit as a player, though he remembers being peppered by coaching-related questions during Mooney's playing days.

"He was a very good player," said Carmody. "He was about 6-7, he could shoot the ball very well, and he was a terrific passer. He had a great sense of things."

The last two things have proved to be traits that have also made him a good coach.

"Usually anybody who is a good passer is like that and he was a good passer," Carmody said. "You see things. You understand who is going to be open and when. It lends itself to coaching."

A NATURAL FIT

Air Force didn't wait long to hire Mooney after Scott resigned April 21 to return to Princeton, his alma mater.

Scott addressed Air Force's players that afternoon. Then, Mooney talked to them, hinting he might be next in line.

Mooney was named coach the next day. The idea was to limit change, senior associate athletic director Michael Saks said.

Scott brought Mooney with him four years ago to help rebuild Air Force. What Scott believed in, Mooney preached.

They evolved as players under legendary Princeton coach Pete Carril, and they are doting pupils of Carril's regimented Princeton- style offense.

He will do little to change Air Force's matchup zone defense, either. Off the court, Mooney said he is not nearly as emotionally charged as Scott. On the court, he said he's just as intense.

"For Chris to behave like Joe, that's not going to happen," said Air Force associate head coach Mike McKee, who has known Mooney since the Philadelphia natives played together on high school all-star teams. "It's not like he's going to not make guys work hard or be as intense or as hard on them. He is more similar than people would think."

Mooney said: "The only difference is we are going to try to get even better. That's our goal. To keep going forward."

That's why an hour after the press conference announcing him as Air Force's coach, Mooney had changed out of his charcoal pinstriped suit, white shirt and light blue tie and into warmup pants and a T- shirt.

It was time for individual workouts. Mooney knew no other way. He had to start coaching again.

"In some ways it was symbolic, like, 'Hey, enough of the media, enough of the celebrating,' " he said. " 'Let's get to work.' There is no missing of any beat."

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0256 or tjacobson@gazette.com