Long Beach State University, the 2024 Big West Tournament champion, released its 2024-25 schedule on Tuesday as it enters a new era.
The Beach will have a fresh look heading into this season after the departure of 17-year head coach Dan Monson following last season. After announcing in early March he was departing the team at season’s end, the veteran coach worked for free during the Big West and the NCAA tournaments.
First-time head coach Chris Acker is now in charge of Long Beach. The new coach was an assistant at San Diego State and helped the team make the NCAA Tournament in four of his five seasons, including the 2023 tournament final.
Long Beach State finished last season 21-15 and looks to build upon that with a team of mostly new players and a few familiar faces.
One of the players remaining on the team from the Big West championship squad is 6-foot-2 guard Jason Hart Jr. The third-year player will attempt to solidify his spot in the starting five with the departures of Isa Silva and Messiah Thompson.
The Big West school lost multiple key players to the transfer portal, including forward Aboubacar Traore and center Lassina Traore. The Beach brought in nine new players during the recruiting window, with seven transfers and two freshmen.
Highlighting the transfer class is ex-California player Devin Askew, who joins Long Beach with one year of eligibility. The guard had his best season in 2022-23, averaging 15.5 points, 3.0 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game in the Pac-12.
Also joining the Beach this season is junior guard TJ Wainwright from Robert Morris University. Wainwright averaged 10 points, 1.4 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game last season in the Horizon League.
Acker and Long Beach State begin the non-conference schedule on Nov. 4, when they host the University of La Verne of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The Beach will have their first road test of the season when they go to South Dakota State on Nov. 8.
LBSU will prepare for their most notable non-conference matchup when they fly to Spokane, Washington, to face off against Gonzaga on Nov. 20. Three days later, the Beach will host the Fresno Bulldogs at the Walter Pyramid on Nov. 23.
Long Beach State will participate in the third annual Las Vegas Ball Dawgs Classic during Thanksgiving week, which includes San Jose State, UTEP and UNC Greensboro in three days.
The Big West Conference has announced “Bold Week,” which will begin the regular season earlier for both men’s and women’s basketball. The Beach will face off against rivals Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 5 in the season opener and host Hawaii three days later.
Though the regular season starts earlier, there will be a two-week period where the non-conference schedule resumes. In that time, Long Beach will take on the University of San Diego, Pepperdine and close the non-conference schedule against La Sierra University on Dec. 22 in Long Beach.
On Jan. 11, LBSU will travel to Northern California to take on 2024 Big West Tournament runner-up, UC Davis.
To close out the regular season, LBSU will host Cal Poly and new head coach Mike DeGeorge on March 8 and try to end the season off on a high note.
The 2025 Big West Tournament will take place from March 12-15 at the Lee’s Family Forum in Las Vegas. Last season, the Beach finished the regular season as the fourth seed and rallied to win the tournament and punch their ticket to March Madness.
You can view the full schedule for Long Beach State here.Â
