Dan Monson
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Dan Monson (born October 6, 1961 in Spokane, Washington) was the head men's basketball coach at the University of Minnesota from July 24, 1999, to November 30, 2006.
Monson, the son of longtime college coach Don Monson, graduated from Moscow High School in 1980 and played football at the University of Idaho before suffering a knee injury that ended his playing career. After graduating from Idaho in 1985, he served as a graduate assistant at UAB before being hired as an assistant coach at Gonzaga in 1988. In 1994, he was promoted to associate head coach, and in 1997, he became Gonzaga's head coach. In his tenure at Gonzaga, he compiled a 52-17 record. His 1998-99 team brought Gonzaga basketball to national prominence with a run in that year's NCAA tournament, advancing to the West Regional final and taking eventual national champions UConn to the last minute before losing.
In the wake of Gonzaga's run in the 1999 tournament, Monson became one of the hottest properties in college basketball. During that summer, he became the head coach of the University of Minnesota. He finished with a 128-106 record at the school, giving him an overall career record of 180-123. He spent the early part of his career at Minnesota dealing with the fallout from the academic scandals of the Clem Haskins era, and has only recently been able to recruit on equal footing with other Big Ten coaches.
Monson was also an assistant coach on the 1999 World University Games team and the 2004 USA U-20 team.
On November 30, 2006 Dan Monson resigned as head coach of Minnesota after a 2-5 start. His assistant Jim Molinari became interim head coach.
Preceded by Dan Fitzgerald |
Gonzaga head men's basketball coach 1997–1999 |
Succeeded by Mark Few |
Preceded by Clem Haskins |
Minnesota head men's basketball coach 1999–2006 |
Succeeded by Jim Molinari (interim) |