Long Shot Long Beach State
Long Beach State University Head Coach, Dan Monson, cutting down the net following his team’s Big West Conference championship (Associated Press photo)
The Long Beach State University basketball team had just lost five games in a row at the end of the 2023-2024 regular season.
The university had had enough, and it fired head coach Dan Monson after a 17-year partnership. But he was allowed to coach what likely would be one more game – the opening round of the Big West Conference Tournament in Henderson, Nevada.
His team had other ideas.
They won that opening round, then the second round, and then the tournament championship, qualifying for an automatic bid to the NCAA National Tournament, thanks to their Big West Championship.
The team had rallied to win three consecutive games within four days and their first appearance since 2012 in college basketball’s biggest event.
Whether or not the Beach goes beyond the first round of the 2024 NCAA tournament against powerhouse Arizona, Dan Monson and his motivated team have already proven that life has more than one shining moment – both on and off the basketball court.
Long Beach State Beach Guard, Jaden Jones, celebrating his team’s Big West Conference championship (Associated Press photo)