Counting today, we are 53 days from the Long Beach Men’s Basketball Home Opener. What, I’m the only one counting?!?! I doubt that. I doubt I’m the only one excited to see what a summer with Monson did to these young sophomores that wowed us all last season. I doubt I’m the only one hoping we see Pacific in the first round of the Big West Tournament for a little payback.
You can’t not be pumped, and you can quote me on that.
Check out these headlines about the team, and mark the 23rd off on your calender. 52 and counting. Who said all you have to celebrate are the 5’s and 10’s?
Weekly Wednesday Basketball Coaches Tour
As the men’s and women’s basketball seasons quickly approach, the Long Beach State Athletic Department and its basketball staffs are hitting the local community to talk 49er hoops with fans.
The third annual Weekly Wednesday Basketball Coaches Tour will feature head men’s basketball coachDan Monson and new head women’s basketball coach Jody Wynn as they dine, laugh and even serve the occasional cocktail while talking 49er basketball with people in the community.
The tour will cover six local restaurants over a six-week period spanning from September 9 to October 14. All events are free to the public and will offer insight into the highly-anticipated 2009-10 seasons for both squads.
Someone Else Picked Us To Win The Big West
Blue Ribbon Magazine has named Long Beach State the preseason favorite to win the Big West Conference men’s basketball title this year, while also naming a pair of 49ers to the preseason all-conference team.
The magazine picked The Beach to win the title followed by Pacific, UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis, Cal State Northridge, UC Riverside, Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine and Cal Poly. LBSU sophomores Larry Andersonand T.J. Robinson were two of the five players named to the magazine’s preseason All-Big West team joining UC Davis’ Mark Payne, UC Santa Barbara’s Orlando Johnson and UC Riverside’s Kyle Austin.
Last year Anderson (Long Beach, Calif./Jordan HS) became the first freshman to earn first-team All-Big West honors since Clifton Pondexter after the 1973-74 season. Anderson finished the season averaging 10.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. He scored in double digits 17 times, including nine of Long Beach State’s last 11 games. He also had three 20-point games, including a career-high 25 points at UC Riverside. Anderson finished Big West play 13th in scoring (12.3 ppg), fourth in field goal percentage (51.1 percent), and sixth in assists (3.19 apg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.31) in league games. For the season, he finished seventh in assists (2.72 apg). He also became the first 49er freshman to earn Big West Freshman of the Year honors since James Cotton claimed the award after the 1993-94 season, and the third overall along with Cotton and Lucious Harris (1989-90).
Robinson (West Haven, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral HS) finished the season averaging 11.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He led the league in field goal percentage (59.7 percent), while ranking 13th in scoring and seventh in rebounding. In league games he was eighth in scoring (13.5 ppg) and second in rebounding (7.8 rpg), while leading the league in field goal percentage (62.3 percent).
LBSU Men’s Basketball Schedule Finalized
You Can Go To Duke!
Prospectus, It’s All You Need To Know