Long Beach State basketball coach Dan Monson was confident six weeks ago when he said his squad had the highest ceiling of any team in the Big West Conference.
After a massive set of peaks and valleys since then, Long Beach proved Monson was right on Saturday night, winning the Big West Tournament with a 74-70 victory over second-seeded UC Davis in Henderson, Nevada.
The victory advanced fourth-seeded Long Beach (21-14) to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012.
LBSU will learn its seeding, destination and opponent for its first-round game when the 68-team bracket is revealed on Sunday at 3 p.m. (CBS, Ch. 2).
Monson’s comments regarding his team’s high ceiling followed a 77-68 win against visiting UC San Diego on Feb. 3 – the second game of a five-game winning streak that put the team in prime position to secure one of the top two seeds into the tournament and an automatic bye into the semifinals.
But a five-game losing streak to end the regular season capped by a 10-point loss to UC Davis last Saturday not only changed those expectations, but likely led to LBSU announcing on Monday that the school would be mutually parting ways with Monson following the season.
If there’s any bitterness, Monson isn’t showing his cards.
“God has blessed me with a great career and these kids have been awesome to coach,” Monson said. “When (new Chargers coach) Jim Harbaugh says, ‘Who’s got it better than him?’ Somebody needs to tell him, Dan Monson.’”
Monson wasn’t ready to call Saturday’s victory the highlight of his career, pointing to his 1999 team at Gonzaga that advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, the first of that program’s six trips to that round since then, but it was likely his favorite among the school-record 175 wins he has collected at LBSU.
Monson also said he doesn’t expect Long Beach to be his final stop.
“I love coaching, I love teams,” he said. “I need a new challenge. It’s life, it’s…
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