Long Beach State's athletic director said the timing of his decision to part ways with coach Dan Monson was done with the hope it might trigger the exact run that led the team on its unexpected trip to the NCAA tournament.
Long Beach State coach Dan Monson reflects on leading his team to the NCAA tournament despite being fired after the regular season. 's athletic director said the timing of his decision to fire coach Dan Monson was done with the hope it might trigger the exact run that led the team on its unexpected trip to the NCAA tournament.
"My belief and hope is that by doing what I did and the timing of it, they would play inspired, and that's what they did," Bobby Smitheran told The Associated Press on Thursday, a few hours before the Beach tipped off againstMonson's job status has been one of the most intriguing stories leading into the first round of the NCAA tournament.
"I don't buy into that narrative," Smitheran said."I think this is really getting lost on people, that we agreed that a change in leadership was necessary. This was something Coach Monson brought to me." Monson has never suggested otherwise and has handled the situation with class. On Wednesday, he quipped that he's working for free now, and loving it because of the outpouring of support he's received from his players, friends and family.
"I keep using the word 'surreal,'" Monson said."Twilight zone might be part true. It's been awesome.", said the big picture is that he wants the Beach to be in the hunt for tournament bids every year."My job is to position our coaches and student athletes to be successful," Smitheran said."This was maybe an atypical way to do so. But I believed in the roster we had, I believed in our coaching staff and our ability to do something special.
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