Coach Pat Monaghan shares his journey from growing up in Chicago to becoming a NCAA DI Assistant Coach.

After high school he attended Harper and earned a 3rd Team NJCAA All American honor in 2004 before transferring to Lewis University (DII). When his playing days were over he became a Graduate Assistant at Wayne State College. He returned to his JUCO roots after finishing his GA program at Wayne State, he accepted an Assistant Coach position at Coffeyville CC from 2008 to 2010. Coffeyville won the Jayhawk East Conference Championship in 2009, and during his time there the team went 46-20. He had a homecoming of sorts when he was hired at Loyola Chicago. Coach Monaghan shares his memories of Sister Jean. After being let go at Loyola Chicago he landed at Minnesota State (NCAA DII) - where the team advanced to four NCAA Tournaments and won a paid of Conference titles. UW Milwaukee hired him and he spent two years at the Horizon League program. During his two years there they were one of the few teams who beat nationally ranked Loyola Chicago in 2017-18 prior to their "Cinderella" run in the NCAA Tournament. In 2019 Southern Illinois hired him and he's remained on Coach Bryan Mullins' coaching staff ever since.

In addition to coaching at Southern Illinois he is also active in "Rising Coaches".