Monday morning, a week after being fired and three days before what could be his last game as Long Beach State men’s basketball coach, Dan Monson played wiffleball with his team during what he called ‘Mental Mondays,’ still yet to do any preparation for Thursday’s game vs. Arizona.
Monson was quick to mention that during his tenure, the coaches and managers remained undefeated against the players in the yearly contest, telling his team that their, “heads are getting too big. So we’re going to bring them down a little bit.”
That’s the type of coach Monson is, he comes across as very personable, yet is still leaving a substantial impact on his players and staff.
Those ‘Mental Mondays’ were noted by the co-founder of the sports media outlet The562, JJ Fiddler, who spent the entirety of Monson’s time at The Beach covering everything to do with Long Beach sports.
“They wouldn’t practice on a Monday to just like talk to a sports psychologist or have one of the players talk about something they’ve gone through,” Fiddler said. “That dedication to the mental part of the game was actually a little bit ahead of its time.”
Finishing the year at 21-14 was an improvement from the year prior and just a tick behind 2021-22’s 20-13 record that boasted a minuscule advantage in terms of winning percentage.
However, this year’s record was clouded by a sense of urgency to make a change after an end-of-the-year collapse.
It was a sizeable decision to relieve Monson of his duties just days before the tournament was set to begin and it created a sense around the team that they had already been written off.
The discussions of parting ways were initiated by Monson after the team’s fifth loss in a row to close out the regular season on March 9 against UC Davis.
“I think, Dan and everybody else would tell you that it was disappointing because of the caliber of student-athletes on the roster and the results that we were achieving,” LBSU Athletic Director Bobby Smitheran said.
A statement made by LBSU Athletics announcing the two parties’ separation on March 11 thanked him for his 17 years in charge and celebrated his contributions, namely becoming the winningest coach in program history.
“I told them if we couldn’t turn it around at the tournament that I was going to resign after,” Monson said. “The only thing we disagreed on is that they wanted to do it last Monday, and I wanted to wait ’till afterward.”
While bittersweet, Monson was just grateful for the opportunity to finish the year, noting how easily it would’ve been to relieve him immediately. It gave him a chance for one last run with this team, one last dance, all in with nothing to lose.
His tenure at The Beach was a valley of highs and lows as described by Fiddler, a tale of coming up short in the three games that matter each year in the conference tournament, and the everlasting need to build on 2012’s trip to March Madness.
“I think there was an unrealistic expectation of results from the Long Beach State basketball community because of the immediate early success,” Fiddler said.
“Other than the results, I think I look at it as a program that like I would want to send my son to because he brought kids in and got them graduated.”
As of the end of The Big West tournament, Monson has tallied 547 total games at the helm with 275 wins, 272 losses and a .503 winning percentage. Four Big West Regular Season Championships and now two NCAA tournament invitations bolster his resume.
The stats don’t show all the student-athletes whose lives he influenced and all the staff members he inspired to move on to the next level. Throughout his coaching career, Dan Monson has elevated those around him.
Earlier in the season, Monson’s team paid a visit to a Saint Monica Preparatory basketball game. It was a rainy weekday, but the team was there showing support to its former assistant coach Allen Caveness who left at the end of last season. For Caveness, it showed that LBSU was still producing fruit in terms of the relationships from his time there.
Caveness is a prominent figure in both Long Beach and basketball in his own regard. The former assistant coached at St. Anthony High School for seven years and is a former Drew League MVP and champion. To him, “Coach Monson is a staple in Long Beach.”
“Doing it for almost two decades is unheard of —- He’s been incredible for the city,” Caveness said.
Joel Murray is another member of last season’s team who left The Beach, but he returned in a new capacity.
In two years at The Beach, he shined averaging 16.4 points per game. Monson gave him a chance at the D1 level after having recruited him from Division II school West Texas A&M.
As Murray’s final season was cut two months short due to injury, Monson again brought him into the conversation, saying he wanted him around in some capacity.
“He just, he took me in as his own like he did two years ago, three years ago,” Murray said.
Monson is a players-coach because of who he is, and to Murray, “Dan, the human is one of the best. He’s one of the best people I’ve ever been around.”
“Dan, the person is somebody that I feel like everybody should experience at least once in their lifetime,” he said.
In the run-up to the Big West tournament, Monson made sure his team could remain in lighthearted spirits despite the circumstances, speaking volumes about his leadership.
According to a CBS news interview done by CBS morning, Monson said that while the team was watching film and after he announced that he resigned, he pointed to one of their defensive clips and said, “that kind of play would get a coach fired.” This evoked laughter from his players and strengthened the bond that allowed them to rally around him.
After the semi-final win against UC Irvine, Monson worried the tanks might have been running empty after playing back-to-back nights. He thought out of the box and painted a picture for his team of what the next 24 hours could look like if they beat UC Davis before breaking down emotionally.
Then he let junior guard Jadon Jones take over, who echoed to his team that the moment was not too big.
“I said to him, ‘you know, a good parent always learns from their kids and a good coach always learns from their players and Jadon [Jones] when you put stay in the moment this afternoon it really hit home to me,’” Monson said.
It was sentimental after the moment when Monson became emotional for the first time all week in front of his team while talking about what Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament could look like. At that moment, he got emotional because he wasn’t in the moment.
Monson never asked for his team to play for him, it’s not what he wanted. The moment was theirs. After the win against UC Davis, Monson was embraced by his team, something he warned them against.
Despite all that unfolded in the last week, Monson is seemingly as content as ever. He plans to play the cards he’s been dealt and stay in the moment. What comes next is in the future, but he still aspires to continue coaching.
That said, with whatever happens in the tournament, don’t expect Monson to act any different. With all eyes set on his team’s game against Arizona on March 21 in Salt Lake City, one of the most captivating Cinderella stories is being led by a man who seems content.
“I wouldn’t trade my life for anybody in the world. I don’t know where it goes from here. I’m not auditioning or anything like that. I am who I am,” Monson said.
This article was edited on March 20, 2024 for accuracy.