Dan Monson, the basketball coach of the Long Beach State 49ers men's basketball team made a name for himself by turning Gonzaga into a college basketball powerhouse. A mid-major program as they're called, distinguishing them from the likes of UNC and Kansas among others, Gozaga became a regular member of the NCAA tournament in March. One tactic that helped bring that along was to schedule any and every big school that would play them.
Unlike Boise State's football program, which has a difficult time finding big schools willing to risk losing to them, college basketball is more forgiving, mainly because there are lots of games, and a handy tournament at the end of the season to decide the champion.
Monson has brought the same philosophy to his tenure at LBSU. The 'Niners have a brutal stretch in their schedule where they play the defending Mountain West champion San Diego State, currently ranked (8)Louisville, (12)Kansas, (1)UNC, and a trip to Hawai'i for a showdown with (13)Xavier.
They just played their second game of the year, travelling across country to play in the harsh environs of Pitt's famed home court. (9)Pitt is the reigning Big East champ and a perennial contender, and they rarely lose at home to teams in their own conference, let alone to non-conference foes.
Until Wednesday, that is.
Our 49ers beat the Panthers of Pittsburgh in their own dojo, becoming the first non-conference team to win in the arena since it opened in 2002, and doing it handily at that. Pitt is still a good team, but Long Beach State came to play. They out-hustled, out-rebounded, and as one Pitt player said, out-smarted the more famous Big East rep.
Here's to hoping for good things for Monson and our very own 'Niners.
Go Beach!
(It always strikes me as a peculiar cheer--"Go Beach!". They say it's because LBSU, or rather, CSULB, is the only major university that has the word beach in the name of the school in the entire country. Kinda cool...)
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