Long Beach State Men's Basketball 2023-24: Love Me Again

#GoBeach #MarchMadness #OnlyTheBold 

THE MONSON STORY: FIRE A COACH AND WATCH HIM REACH THE TOURNAMENT

 

THE MONSON STORY: FIRE A COACH AND WATCH HIM REACH THE TOURNAMENT

There’s no better revenge against a dismissive university than by winning the Big West tournament, which is how Monson and Long Beach State responded to his dismissal as March Madness continues

     Before Dan Monson, none of us could pronounce Gonzaga without blanks, blurs and stutters. He was the original mid-major coach who proved he could reach the Elite Eight at a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Wash. The year was 1999.

     If he stayed, he would be Mark Few today. He left for Minnesota, and for the last quarter-century, America’s elite young coach couldn’t stop crashing. He cleaned up a repulsive academic scandal and resigned under pressure in 2006, escaping to Long Beach State, which decided to call itself “The Beach.” For 17 years, he went 275-272 and entered the season with one NCAA tournament appearance in 2012. Last Monday, Monson was fired by athletic director Bobby Smitheran, who suggested a rampant revision of a program whose best-known recent player is Bryon Russell. You remember him as the Utah guard, pushed slightly by Michael Jordan before a wrist-suspended jumper led to his sixth NBA title.

     “A change in leadership creates an opportunity to re-envision the future of our storied men’s basketball program,” Smitheran said. “We are committed to finding the right person for the job — one that can harness the incredible energy of this community, build meaningful connections and elevate this program to the next level.”

     Little did he know that the right person for the job was … Dan Monson.

     In an industry that doesn’t care how a man once performed, he and his team accepted the news and flung themselves into the Big West tournament near Las Vegas. The Beach, or 49ers, kept playing games and kept winning. Saturday night, they needed a victory over UC Davis. Many of the seats were empty. A dude named Roxy was broadcasting the game on ESPN2. Would a program with a canned coach somehow save the man for more March Madness?

     Call it sex on the Beach. Monson carries on, with resumes floating around the country, when college basketball burns coaches in flames. His advantage is a berth in the big tournament, which should remind lost souls that he can coach a team. At 62, he still wants a gig with another program, and why the hell not after a 74-70 victory? And you think the AD should have waited until after the season was over?

     “God has blessed me with a great career and these kids have been awesome to coach. When Jim Harbaugh says who's got it better than him, somebody needs to tell him Dan Monson,” he said as his players celebrated in the stands.

     Why not simply accept the grace and move on? His celebrated pal, Few, seemed to suggest as much in a text. “I got the '99 run at Gonzaga, but, as Mark Few texted me ‘Why don't we have a run in the first year and a run in the last?’ But I don't think this is my last year,” he said. “I love coaching. I love teams. I need a new challenge. It's life. It's onto the next chapter.”

     Can Long Beach State, which has dealt with leakage in a 20-year-old campus pyramid, do any better with someone else? UCLA, coached by Mick Cronin, didn’t make the tournament. Nor did USC, which lost to Monson this season despite the presence of Bronny James. Stanford fired its coach. California went 13-19. Yet here is Monson, who better make sure he still has insurance, ready to keep winning and making money. A few days earlier, he said it was “time for a new voice.”

     Maybe it’s him. “Being in it is one thing. Winning it is another and we're happy,” Monson said. “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. These kids have been awesome to coach. They’re great people.”

     His players felt horrible that he’ll lose employment. In hindsight, maybe Smitheran spurred a big rally. “It was a silent moment for everyone when we heard. The guys became motivated,” said Lassina Traore, who scored 25 points. “We know that firing him is not his fault. We lost the games. The leaders agreed, we had to have his back. We weren’t going to let him down.”

     Said Traore’s brother, Aboubacar, who had seven points and 13 rebounds: “The main thing was, we were helping the coach. For us, it would be really bad for him to leave without winning a championship. He has been a great mentor for us. He could have easily said, all right. But he wanted to do his job to the end. He still wants to win. So we’re gonna do the same thing because he’s not giving up.”

     Not once did Monson rip the school. He was filled with class. “What a great week. What a great week,” he said. “What a privilege to have a team that has the kind of character to figure out a way to win three straight days. We said we were in Vegas. We said we were in a heavyweight fight. I am so proud of them and I’m lucky to ride with these guys. I’ve been to the NCAA tournament. My wife says she’s never had drugs in her life, but it’s got to be a similar feeling. It’s a high I’m expecting these guys to enjoy. It’s a team that can win games in this tournament. We’ll find out.”

     Wisely, someone asked Monson how he’d like to be remembered. “He did it the right way on and off the court,” he said. “It’s not just about wins and losses. It’s doing it with principle. It’s a tough business. I’m OK with whatever other people do, but I have to look in that mirror. I tell parents to trust me with your young man. In four to five years, I’ll give you a grown man. I’m proud of all that.”

     Stanford works. Vanderbilt works. Why not Louisville, which needs a cleanser?

     With another victory or two, consider it a massive job promotion for a man who deserves much better.

     ###

     Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.

LBSU vs. Westcliff 2020: Ooomph!

#NCAAMVB #GoBeach

Magic In the Air

 #LBNATION #WeAreLB #GoBeach #NCAAMVB #saimoe #fatekaleidliner #NCAAVB

Some unfinished business?

Unfinished business indeed.

Mission and Vision of the Beach

I would like to take this time to go ahead and take a breather from the insanity and bedlam and activity thereof on this blog, and give you a special announcement from my university's president. Enjoy.

Dear CSULB Students:

I am pleased to share with you the result of a year-long collaborative effort to revise our campus statements of mission, vision and values to better reflect our current self-conception of CSULB as a university of rising excellence with a global perspective, as a destination of choice for talented students, and as a source of highly-valued degrees.

This revision is the product of last fall’s Academic Senate retreat that focused on mission, vision and values. That lively event, with terrific student participation, yielded many exciting ideas about how to portray our rising excellence.

An experienced committee representing all four University divisions and including the Senate Chair sifted through those exciting ideas. That committee shared drafts and solicited further ideas from the full Academic Senate twice during the spring 2007 semester. The University Vice Presidents, working with the Senate Chair, Staff Council Chair and myself, put finishing touches on the statements over the summer.

Our prior mission statement, written in the early 1980s, was a lengthy two-page document and contained long lists of generic ideas. With our emerging University excellence and our new comprehensive (fund-raising) campaign, we needed to develop more concise statements of our mission, vision and values. The new statements are included in this email message and can be found on our campus website:

CSULB continues to be a vibrant engine of economic and social mobility for many students. The access and excellence that we provide make essential educational opportunities available to thousands of students each year. Thus, I am particularly excited about highlighting the fact that our University is a place that is “changing lives for a changing world.”

Each and every member of our campus community has contributed to the rising excellence of our University. Any statement of our mission or vision for the future is really a tribute to the hard work and dedication of faculty and staff to make CSULB a center of excellence and a gateway to educational opportunity. I hope you like our new, more concise language to portray the excellence that you have helped create over the years.

Warmly,

F. King Alexander
President

Mission Statement

California State University, Long Beach is a diverse, student-centered, globally-engaged public university committed to providing highly-valued undergraduate and graduate educational opportunities through superior teaching, research, creative activity and service for the people of California and the world.

Vision Statement

California State University, Long Beach envisions changing lives by expanding educational opportunities, championing creativity, and preparing leaders for a changing world.

Values


Educational Opportunity
Excellence
Diversity
Integrity
Service

Academic Purpose

Our academic purpose is to graduate students with highly-valued degrees.

Envisioned Future

CSULB is committed to being an outstanding teaching-intensive, research-driven university that emphasizes student engagement, scholarly and creative achievement, civic participation, and global perspectives.

Teaching-Intensive, Research-Driven University


CSULB students have many opportunities in their studies to gain a love of ideas; an appreciation of artistic expression, science, and technology; and an understanding of varied cultures.
CSULB faculty members fully integrate the results of their research and creative activities into their teaching, invigorating and enhancing student learning.
Students receive the advising and mentoring they need to realize their dreams because of the student-centered philosophy of CSULB's faculty and staff.
CSULB faculty members are widely recognized for their outstanding teaching, research, and creative activities.
The University has the highest average graduation rate and the lowest average time to graduation among the public master's-degree-granting universities in the West.
The University continues to enhance the highly collegial climate that enables broad and deep collaboration in research, creative activities, and teaching.
CSULB graduates have the necessary skills for successful careers in various fields and disciplines.
CSULB is recognized for the rich diversity of its student body and the accomplishments of its students will demonstrate that it is both possible and essential to offer broad access to high quality education.

Student Engagement


CSULB is widely recognized for its high quality of services, activities and programs for students.
CSULB has strong partnerships with faculty, staff, student and community groups so that we may serve as primary advocates to meet the needs of our diverse student population.
CSULB embraces a culture of evidence that strives for continued quality improvement in our programs and services.
CSULB invests in our human and technological resources so that we may optimally respond in a dynamic environment.
CSULB makes a positive contribution to the greater society by developing responsible citizens, with highly valued degrees, for the 21st century.
CSULB students graduate as skilled problem-solvers and practitioners of their disciplines through participation in research projects, creative endeavors, community service learning, and internships.
"Beach pride" is pervasive not just among current faculty, staff, and students, but among graduates and friends of the campus, and most alumni will retain significant ties to campus programs, return to campus often, and support the campus financially.
Other universities look to CSULB as the source of best practices in student engagement, instructional innovations, academic technologies, and student services.
Each CSULB student has the opportunity to enhance his or her educational experience through co-curricular activities that include student-to-student relationship-building in clubs, cultural activities sponsored by departments and colleges, and international programs and events.
CSULB faculty receive adequate and appropriate recognition and reward for engaging in pedagogical practices such as community service learning that prepare students for responsible civic participation.
CSULB is recognized as an "engaged campus," where students, faculty, and staff are actively involved in campus life and activities.

Scholarly and Creative Achievement


The expertise and research interests of CSULB faculty are recognized and valued nationally and internationally for their advancement of knowledge.
CSULB faculty members receive both internal and external support for their research and creative activities.
CSULB faculty researchers make significant contributions to resolving community and regional problems and planning for future needs of our region and the nation.
Research/technology parks in the Greater Long Beach area include a high proportion of small companies spun off from campus-originated faculty-staff-student research projects.

Community Engagement


CSULB faculty, staff, and students are intensely involved in community service and partnerships with community agencies and non-profits, schools, and local government agencies.
One of the fastest growing areas of campus activity is the business and technology "incubator" program, whereby faculty-staff-student research teams work together to bring ideas developed through external funding into the marketplace.
All students have the opportunity and necessary financial support to earn credit toward degree through internships with area companies and community organizations.

Global Perspectives


The variety and scope of the University's international curricular offerings are continuously broadened and deepened.
Through a wide variety of curricular and extracurricular stratagems, all CSULB students are significantly exposed to a global perspective and many will develop multi-lingual abilities.
Faculty and staff are significantly supported in internationally-related teaching and research.
The international strengths of the University are promoted and communicated, both internally and externally.

Services and Support


CSULB is widely recognized as providing the best services in the CSU System.
CSULB provides facilitative, quality, customer-oriented services.
CSULB provides the campus community with a flexible physical environment and user friendly services.
CSULB provides logistical, financial, and technological support to the campus community.
CSULB maintains and enhances the University’s infrastructure.
CSULB provides an inviting environment that promotes respect and collaboration.

-Dr. F. King Alexander
President, California State University Long Beach

Why hello there, Mr. Koulax…

On a day where the Dirtbags claimed another series after being in a funk the last three goes, the Long Beach State softball team fail in predictable fashion against Cal Poly, while the women’s water polo team are given a refresher course in Water Polo 101 by Stanford.

Congrats to the Michigan State Spartans for winning the Frozen Four on the eve of Christ’s supposed resurrection. Ironically, the Spartan Fight Song is based on a Christian revival hymn called “Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus.” Divine Intervention? (They did score three goals…one for the father, son, and holy ghost.) Timing of the best case? King Leonidas getting his revenge with the Green and White fighting in the shade? I leave it to you schmucks to figure it out.

And as for our men’s volleyball team…it’s over, unless they get help fast. Cue the long beep sound you hear on those medical drama’s like Gray’s Anatomy, E.R., and whatever garbage the big three network decide to place on as a Blue Plate special on the boob tube.

I hope the Galaxy wins on Sunday. And I personally welcome Dan Monson as the next coach for the 49er hoopster guys. But now he has to prove to us why he was the right decision....starting with the recruiting trail.
lbsu,

Long time comin'

The last time we won at Spanos Center was on February 14, 2002. Valentine's Day. I was still in my senior year of high school, still traumatized from being treated like a piece of meat by my Intermediate Algebra teacher. If I could relieve those days again, I would have Lucy the Diclonius' personality. I'm still in a bit of an agitated mood that the Tigers of the University of the Pacific defeated our guys last year in the Big West Championship Game.

See, when I saw Bob Thomason (the Riley Wallace of the Big West) get lifted into the air, I was furious. When the PA announcer said Larry Reynolds's name as part of introducing our team (that was with Jibril Hodges and Shawn Hawkins), I yelled out "Thanks for the memories!" Unfortunately (or rather, fortunately), Vic Cegles came in and let Coach Reynolds finish the last year of his current contract.

It turned out to be a smart move, in spite of a early "here-we-go-again" rusty stumble. We won the Big West regular season title, and blackwashed Pacific, rocking them at the Walter Pyramid, and then defeating the Tigers in Spanos Center for the first time in over five years, 82-76.

I knew that our team was capable of running the tables. This was a great warmup, and the next match would be against the scum that is UC Irvine. I plan to tear my shirt off if we score over 100 in the game. And I will probably stick to my Red Bull or Rockstar next time. No more of that carbonated cough syrup from SoBe. Please.

Long Beach State breaks Fullerton’s hearts on Wednesday night

Long Beach State breaks Fullerton’s hearts on Wednesday night

By Jo-Ryan Salazar
Bedlam on Baltic Avenue
February 15, 2007


They say it’s tough to beat a good team twice.

But that’s what Long Beach State did. While I was taping on my cell phone me and Pete’s Posse’s forays into Titan Gymnasium, I knew that while the odds were against the 49ers numbers-wise, it put a lot of pressure of us. If we had dropped this game, of course I would be stoic and disgusted with the result. But if we won the game, it’s because of the pressure of having 15 straight games without a loss at their home floor (including 11 this season) became too much to bear for Bobby Brown, Scott Cutley, and Frank Robinson.

As we got on the coach to the Gym via 22 and 57, Dr. Vic Cegles, LBSU Athletic Director, as well as Bob Keisser of the Long Beach Press Telegram, accompanied us on the trip. It was a mellow ride, delayed by the usual evening gridlock, but as I got off and planted my feet on the ground, I said, “Fullerton, I have returned.”

We had some problems with our seating, but we eventually sat on the balcony. There was a railing, and this allowed us to stand on the seats, and even lean on the railing if we were to protest our decision. This was very advantageous for our group, as it allowed us to jump like the Cameron Crazies (whoever they may be), as well as yell obscenities when the calls by the officials were suspiciously questionable.

I helped lead some chants, as well as others, and I paced around to make sure they were fired up from the opening tip-off to the final buzzer. And they were. A couple of campus event staff tried to limit our antics, but they might as well get out of the way instead to relieve their stress. They couldn’t handle us, and neither did their players.

We won by ten point-again. 94-84. I was very proud of my team’s effort, as well as the Posse’s effort. But I knew at the back of my head that we have a long way to go before we get to where we need to be. On top of that, Homecoming week was on tap after a luau with the Warriors.


While Long Beach City is also taking care of things, sweeping through the South Coast regular season with a 76-73 win over El Camino, I have to feel for another junior college miles away that lost one of its players.

I don’t know Grayson County College that well. Heck, I don’t know how the Texas junior college system works. But whenever something like this happens, it really is depressing. Mike Ndiribe, a 6-8, 210-pound freshman who had big dreams ahead of him, got that-and his life-taken away in the locker room. I looked at the story on ESPNU, and I thought it was Deon Tresvant, but thank goodness it wasn’t that close to home. Again, you never want something like this to happen at any level. Because, when will it be my time? Or when will it be your time? Who will be next?

It’s like the day Hank Gathers collapsed on the floor during a Loyola Marymount game in 1990. But that was because he did not listen to his doctors. I don’t know about this. One thing’s for sure; you will be seeing an ESPN special on this. They are notorious [sic] for capitalizing on demises like this.