Idaho to honor Don Monson tonight: Son of former Vandals coach brings Long Beach State to Moscow for first regular-season game at ICCU Arena
From news services
MOSCOW — Idaho Athletics will honor former Vandal head men's basketball coach Don Monson tonight at the season opener and the first men’s game ever in the new ICCU Arena.
The opponent for tonight's game (6 p.m., SWX, ESPN+) is Long Beach State, coached by Monson's son Dan.
Don Monson will be honored before the game and banners for Monson and the 1981-82 Sweet 16 team will be revealed.
Monson, a native of Coeur d'Alene and an Idaho grad, cut his teeth coaching at the high school level in eastern Washington before joining friend and fellow coaching legend Jud Heathcote at Michigan State.
He came to Idaho before the 1978-79 season after Vandals finished last in the Big Sky for four consecutive seasons.
His first year, the Vandals again finished last but in year two, Idaho jumped all the way to second place before winning the first league title in 1980-81.
The 1981-82 season was the best in program history. The Vandals started the season with a 16-0 record before dropping a road game at Montana 53-51 and an overtime game at Notre Dame 50-48.
Idaho went 13-1 in league Big Sky play and earned an 85-80 win over Nevada in the Big Sky Championship in the Kibbie Dome.
The Vandals earned the No. 3 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament and a first-round bye. The second round saw Idaho meet Iowa at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman for a chance to advance to the Sweet 16. The Vandals topped the Hawkeyes 69-67 on a last-second shot by Brian Kellerman in overtime.
Idaho traveled to Provo, Utah, to face Oregon State in the sweet 16, a team that the Vandals took down 71-49 earlier in the season, but the Beavers changed strategy and took down Idaho 60-42.
Monson was named the National Association of College Basketball Coaches Coach of the Year and the Vandals were picked sixth in the final polls.
Monson lasted one more year in Idaho before being snatched up by Oregon to take the helm for the Ducks. No other Big Sky team has advanced to the Sweet 16 since the 81-82 Vandal team.
Monson coached at Oregon for nine seasons before retiring in 1992. He now lives in Spokane. His son, Dan was the head coach at Gonzaga from 1997-1999. He then went on to coach at Minnesota before taking over at Long Beach State in 2007 where he has won three Big West titles.
Don Monson's legacy will be forever etched in the new arena. The office area was named in his honor and there will be banners in the rafters for him and his Sweet 16 team.
Limited tickets are still available for the game at govandals.com. Fans are encouraged to arrive early to be a part of the ceremony to honor Monson.
ABOUT THIS YEAR'S VANDALS
Idaho returns less than half of its scoring from last season's 1-21 team (1-17 Big Sky), with the majority of the scoring coming from Gabe Quinnett, Tanner Christensen and Ethan Kilgore.
Nine fresh faces will join the Vandals roster this season, including six transfers and three freshmen.
The six transfers are made up of three juniors and three seniors, joining a roster that lost seven upperclassmen.
"We are the happiest group of guys on campus," Idaho coach Zac Claus said. "We thank so many people for the hard work, the fundraising, the effort that went into this building. We can't wait to get out there under the bright lights and have a whole lot of fun."
Jack Hatten, Yusef Salih and RJ Walker are the three freshmen that join the roster this season.
Senior Mikey Dixon and junior Rashad Smith make their way to Moscow from Phoenix after spending last season at Grand Canyon University.
Trevante Anderson (San Francisco), Nolan Bertain (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) and Philip Pepple Jr. (SIUE) joined as transfers after spending last season on the Division 1 scene. Senior JeMeil King transferred to Idaho back in August after competing at Bellevue University the past two seasons.
