Donald Lloyd Monson was born on April 11,1933 and is an American former college basketball head coach and the father of head coach Dan Monson.
18 Facts About Don Monson
1.
2.
Don Monson was a high school head coach for 18 seasons and college head coach for 14 seasons: five at Idaho and nine at Oregon.
3.
Don Monson was selected by his peers as the national coach of the year Monson spent 1993 in Australia, coaching the Adelaide 36ers of the National Basketball League.
4.
Don Monson graduated from high school in 1951 and then attended the University of Idaho in Moscow, where he lettered for three years in basketball and graduated He played under Vandal head coach Charles Finley through his junior year, then Harlan Hodges for his senior season.
5.
Don Monson moved up to the collegiate ranks in 1976 as an assistant under friend Jud Heathcote at Michigan State.
6.
Don Monson stayed in East Lansing for two seasons, leaving in August 1978 for the late vacancy at Idaho.
7.
Don Monson became a college head coach in August 1978 at the University of Idaho, his alma mater.
8.
The first season under Don Monson brought another last place finish in the Big Sky, their fifth straight, and an overall record of for the 1979 season, but the groundwork had begun.
9.
Don Monson was named the Kodak Coach of the Year in Division I in 1982 and rumors were rampant that he would jump to a higher league, maybe to struggling Arizona in the Pac-10.
10.
That position was filled by Ben Lindsey, and Don Monson chose to stay for another year at Idaho.
11.
Don Monson became a cult hero in the Moscow community in the early 1980s, bringing championship status to a university that had long struggled in both football and basketball.
12.
Don Monson was well known for his anguished expressions and contorted body language while on the Idaho sideline, which became the subject for an unofficial fan club.
13.
Don Monson was the biggest thing to happen to Vandal basketball since Gus Johnson in 1963.
14.
Don Monson's successor was Bill Trumbo, a successful junior college head coach in northern California.
15.
Don Monson's Vandals were against the Cougars, winning the final three to the great frustration of the Cougar Nation and the Pullman community.
16.
Don Monson took over a team from former head coach Jim Haney.
17.
Don Monson was replaced by Jerry Green, who coached the Ducks for five seasons before leaving for Tennessee after the 1997 season.
18.
In 1993, Don Monson was signed to coach the Adelaide 36ers who play in the National Basketball League in Australia.