Dan Monson leads Long Beach State to the tourney, despite getting fired days earlier
Despite firing longtime head coach Dan Monson days ahead of the Big West Tournament, Long Beach State is going dancing come Thursday.
The team was coming off the heels of a five-game losing streak at the time that the athletic program announced they would part ways with Monson at the end of the season, ending a 17-year partnership.
Players responded in the true spirit of March Madness, storming through the Big West Tournament and winning all three of their games, including a 74-70 victory over UC Davis in the final.
"They dealt with a lot last week, and the way they handled it — they're playing their best basketball at the right time," Monson told KCAL News at his home on Selection Sunday, where he was joined by his team.
Now, they're slated to face off against No. 2 seed University of Arizona later this week, earning an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 15 seed thanks to their Big West Championship. It's their first appearance in college basketball's biggest event since 2012.
"It's a tough draw for us, we know what our odds are ... But we also know there's 300 teams that are sitting home that would do anything to have our opportunity on Thursday," He said.
As for how they're moving forward, with even more unexpected time together?
"We're gonna take advantage of it. We're gonna enjoy it and embrace it," Monson said. "It's been the time of our lives really in this last week and we want it to continue."
Players want to make sure fans aren't sleeping on them when it comes to filling out their brackets.
"Look at where we came from," said Aboubacar Traore, a junior forward for the team. "It's not easy to get your coach fired and still find that motivation to go out there after losing five games in a row, and then just go in there and win three games in a row. Believe in the people that never give up."
Prior to Saturday's win, Monson had led the Beach to four Big West regular season titles, four NIT selections and one NCAA Tournament appearance. During his tenure the team had a 275-272 record, finishing this season 21-14.
