Coach Dan Monson’s final days with Long Beach State men’s basketball made national headlines in March. After 17 years at the helm, Monson was told just before the Big West Conference Tournament that he wouldn’t be brought back for next season. Less than a week later, LBSU won the Big West title and automatic spot in the NCAA Tournament.
“What a privilege to have a team that has that kind of character that struggled all year to be consistent, and all year struggled defensively, to be able to figure out a way to win three straight games,” Monson said after the 74-70 championship game win over UC Davis. “That’s what March is about. I don’t think it’s really explainable. That’s probably a question for them as to why it clicked. It was just really gratifying to see it click.”
Forward Aboubacar Traore was named Big West tournament MVP and had only the second triple-double in LBSU program history during the winning streak.
“We were trying to have our coaches back. No matter what we were going to do, we didn’t want him to leave without anything,” A. Traore said. “We wanted to get coach Monson a championship. That was our main thing. He’s been a great mentor and leader for us.”
LBSU was in the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time and second under Monson since 2012. The Beach had its upset bid fall short against Arizona in the first round in Salt Lake City.
There were plenty of news stories about the LBSU coaching situation, including an ESPN story about athletic director Bobby Smitheran making the move to part ways with Monson before the tournament in an effort to motivate the team.
“If it helped then I’m really happy we did it,” Monson said. “I wouldn’t trade it for the job and I’ve said that all along. If that’s what spurred it that’s great. But we’ll never know.”
