Focused on new ‘family’ at EWU, Dan Monson pays homage to old ‘friends’ at Gonzaga

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Apr. 15—CHENEY — At first, Dan Monson misinterpreted the question.

Midway through an introductory news conference at Reese Court on Monday afternoon, Eastern Washington’s 20th basketball coach was asked if he’d given any thought to putting his former team on the Eagles’ schedule this season.

“I wouldn’t mind it,” Monson said. “We’ll go play whoever.”

On second thought, Monson decided, yes, he’d be fine with playing one of his former teams.

But that former team? Maybe not just yet.

“I thought you were talking about Long Beach State,” Monson said. “I have a problem playing Gonzaga. I want to beat Gonzaga and I don’t want to just go play them. I’m not sure we’re ready for that, so I’m not going to sit here and pop off to the media, ‘Yeah let’s go, we’re going to go beat Gonzaga.’ We’re not at that level yet, but we want to get there.”

Monson, who accepted the head coaching position at EWU last week after 17 years at Long Beach State, has been in frequent contact with the man who succeeded him at Gonzaga two-and-a-half decades ago.

A nonconference game/series between Monson’s program at EWU and Mark Few’s at Gonzaga is possibly the only thing that hasn’t come up in recent conversation between the longtime friends and coaching colleagues who met in the late 1980’s while working the University of Oregon basketball camps held by late GU coach Dan Fitzgerald.

“There’s plenty of room for both programs and Mark and I were on the phone for two hours yesterday going through candidates and players and everything else,” Monson said. “It’s in my blood and we’re in each other’s weddings. His dad married us both. So that’s family, too, but this is my family now. We’ll use each other for resources, but playing friends is no fun.”

Monson’s two-year stint at Gonzaga (1997-99) represents a small sliver of a head coaching career that spans 27 seasons, but the now 62-year-old coach spent 10 seasons prior as an assistant coach in Spokane and moves back to the Inland Northwest with countless…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/focused-family-ewu-dan-monson-020100618.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2024-04-16 02:01:00

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