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Those hoping to see how the Eastern Washington men’s basketball team looks under new head coach Dan Monson will have a handful of in-person opportunities to do so even before the end of the upcoming football season.

Maybe it goes back even further, but this legacy of Monson fathers passing basketballs down to their sons at least traces back to Oscar “Swede” Monson, who coached at Menahga (Minn.) High School before World War II.

PULLMAN – Cedric Coward became the fourth Eastern Washington basketball player to follow coach David Riley to Pullman, announcing on his Instagram page Thursday that he will play at Washington State next season.

Merritt’s story has a compelling arc: Medical hardships, athletic successes, some missteps and early death. But make no mistake, at its heart, this story is a requiem for a baller. Stone-cold. Unrelenting competitor. The man lived for it.

Hired last month after David Riley left for Washington State, EWU basketball coach Dan Monson has brought in associate head coach Ryan Lundgren and assistant Larry Anderson to join Ben Beauchamp, the lone holdover from Riley's staff, the school announced on Wednesday.

Brendon Merritt, a key contributor on the first Eastern Washington men’s basketball team to advance to the NCAA Tournament (2004), died of a heart attack last week, according to friends and social media accounts.

Given the success EWU’s women’s basketball team enjoyed last season, and given the fact the team’s entire coaching staff is back, it would seem improbable that the Eagles experienced as much roster turnover as they did this offseason. And while it’s not entirely a rebuild, the Eagles are looking to replace 85% of their scoring production from last season.

Next season’s roster is coming together for the Eastern Washington men’s basketball team.

Tanner Groves, the Spokane native and former Shadle Park standout who played three seasons at Eastern Washington, has signed a one-year deal with the Cairns Taipans of Australia’s National Basketball League.

Three decades into his coaching career, Dan Monson still leans on one of his closest basketball confidants whenever he’s in a bind.

With Dan Monson’s hiring at Eastern Washington, the Inland Northwest basketball environment further closed into a flat circle, a hoop, perhaps, with common elements woven and connected like nylon netting.