Coach leads team to NCAA Tournament – after getting fired

We’ve all made decisions that we came to regret. And it’s wonder if some decision-makers at Long Beach might be regretting — or at least second-guessing — a decision less than a week after it was made. And it all relates to head men’s basketball coach, Dan Monson.

The Beach finished their regular season on a five-game losing streak. As such, the powers that be decided to move on from Monson — who’s been the head basketball coach at Long Beach State since 2007. Only, while the regular season was over, the Beach still had to get through the Big West Tournament. Monson was allowed to stay on, effectively as a lame-duck coach, until the team was eliminated. Only, that never happened.

Long Beach opened the conference tournament up with an 86-67 win over UC Riverside on Thursday. A day later, the Beach defeated UC Irvine 83-79, avenging an 82-61 blowout loss, which was part of the season-ending losing streak. On Saturday, Long Beach met up with UC Davis, who defeated the Beach 88-78 in the regular season finale. Once again, though, the Beach avenged their loss defeating the Aggies 74-70 — punching their ticket to the NCAA Tournament in the process.

When the game was over, Monson, who will coach at least one more game for Long Beach State, took the high road.

“I’ve had a blessed — God has blessed me with a great career and these kids have been awesome to coach,” he said. “When Jim Harbaugh says who’s got it better than him, somebody needs to tell him Dan Monson.”

The remarkable run from Monson and the Beach certainly captivated college hoops fans on Saturday night.

Long Beach State will find out its opponent on Sunday. But regardless of what happens the rest of the way, Monson and his team have already rewritten their stories.

[Photo Credit: ESPN2]