Dan Monson told his Long Beach State players no one else believed in them and they responded with fire, earning an unlikely NCAA tournament bid.
Dan Monson was gone. Done. Finished. Standing before his players, he was a dead coach about to blow his final whistle. Essentially fired at the start of what was expected to be his last week on the job, the longtime Long Beach State basketball boss told his players that the school’s athletic administration had not just quit on him but on them as well. There’s no way they think you can win the Big West tournament, Monson said. Let’s show them they’re wrong.
Standing before his players again on the morning of the championship game against UC Davis, Monson told them that they would take the bus home immediately after the game to his house for the selection show, suggesting that they were about to complete a monumental victory. Before the coach could continue, the emotion of the moment overcame him. His players cheered, Lassina Traore telling Monson that they would win for him.
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