LBSU eyes tourney berth after coach’s termination

• Myron Medcalf, ESPN

  • Personnel WriterMar 16, 2024, 10:17 AM ET Close Covers college basketball
  • Joined ESPN.com in 2011
  • Graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato

Just days after agreeing to a “shared separation” with Long Beach State when the season ends, coach Dan Monson has his squad in the Huge West title game and a win away from an unlikely NCAA competition berth.Long Beach State

defeated top-seed UC Irvine 83-79 Friday night to advance to Saturday’s last versus UC Davis (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

Monson informed ESPN after Friday’s win that the whole circumstance has actually been “surreal.” On Monday, Long Beach State announced that it had decided to part ways with Monson as soon as the season ends.Editor’s Picks

1 Associated “On behalf of the entire Long Beach State community, I wish to thank Coach Monson for his 17 seasons of service to Beach Athletics and his many contributions to our males’s basketball program,” LBSU athletic director Bobby Smitheran stated in a declaration. “As the all-time leader in profession success, he has favorably affected numerous student-athletes to make every effort athletically and academically, and he leaves our program in excellent shape to continue our pursuit for championships.”

In his declaration Monday, Monson stated, “It’s time for a new voice.”

That ending might need to wait, however, up until the NCAA competition as Monson’s time at Long Beach State has actually been extended with an unexpected journey to the conference title game and a shot at the automatic berth.

“Remaining in it is one thing, winning it is another and we enjoy,” Monson told the Orange County Register after the win. “We feel like we deserve it, but we’re not done. We didn’t come here to get to the championship game. We came here to go to the NCAA tournament.”

March is always a harsh month for coaches on the hot seat. Today, in both men’s and females’s basketball, several coaches have actually been fired right away after their last games and have actually had to deal with the circumstance throughout postgame news conferences.Monson could, nevertheless, still be training after Choice Sunday if his team wins Saturday, regardless of currently knowing his fate.The longtime LBSU coach, who was employed before the 2007-08 season, had not made the NCAA tournament because 2011-12. Among the group’s highlights this season, before Friday’s win, was a roadway win over Bronny James and USC in December.Long Beach State had been on a five-game losing streak going into the conference tournament.

It now has won two in a row. A third-straight triumph by the Beach would be the extremely meaning of March Madness.