SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — “We’re not satisfied. You know being here, we want more out of this. We want to take it as far as we can possibly go,” Jadon Jones, the junior guard for Long Beach State, said.
Jones and junior forwards Aboubacar and Lassina Traore took the stand at the press conference before their matchup against Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and they had their game faces on.
Long Beach State head coach Dan Monson however was cracking jokes from the moment he walked on the stage.
“I’m not gonna answer anything I don’t want to because I work for free today,” Monson said.
Monson, of course, was referring to the fact that he and LBSU had parted ways on March 11, yet he was allowed to coach his team until the end of the season, which to many was supposed to be in The Big West Tournament.
“I’m a Seinfeld episode going on right now in real life,” Monson said.
He compared himself to the Seinfeld character George Costanza in the episode where George is deliberately trying to get fired, but can not and is still coming to work every day. Monson’s lightheartedness got a laugh out of the entire conference room.
Monson was serious at the press conference when he was asked about the situation surrounding his departure and what he has been through this past week. Monson said it has been “surreal” and that it has been a sort of “Twilight Zone” for him.
Jones is another person who feels this experience has surely been surreal since he grew up in Long Beach and has lived there pretty much his whole life.
“You know it’s special. Not a lot of people get the opportunity to play for their home city,” he said.
The Long Beach State guard gets the opportunity to represent his home city and wear the “LB” on his chest on the biggest stage of them all, at the NCAA Tournament.
The Beach’s opponent tomorrow, the Arizona Wildcats, is coached by Tommy Lloyd, who started as a graduate assistant under Monson at Gonzaga. Shortly after Lloyd was hired, Monson left for Minnesota, so he never had Lloyd as a part of his staff, but still, the two are close.
“I gave him his first opportunity,” Monson said. “His [junior college] coach knew my mom, so Walla Walla, [Washington], Pomeroy, [Washington] connection.”
Monson detailed how the two and their families along with current Gonzaga head coach Mark Few and his family got pizza last night when they arrived in Salt Lake City and Lloyd bought the meal.
Tomorrow will be as emotional as it gets for Monson. His wife and daughter were in the press conference filming the entire time, enjoying every second of what is his last press conference for The Beach.
“Those are the things that you just cherish in these deals, it’s above and beyond,” Monson said. “The game is relationships, and that’s something I’ve reflected on this week.”
Monson joked saying that he has, “spent the last three days putting in the Princeton offense.” Princeton took down the Wildcats in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year as the No. 15 seed, the same feat The Beach will try to replicate tomorrow.
The Beach, which looks to give Monson one last ride, takes on the Wildcats tomorrow at 11 a.m. on TBS.