When the Long Beach State men’s basketball team thudded to a fifth place (9-7) finish and early exit from the Big West Conference tournament in a second consecutive losing season last year, the 49ers did something almost unheard of in college athletics these days.

They cut the head coach’s salary.

Not just a token trim or slight snip, mind you, but a stiff, 20 percent-plus whack of $75,080.

Head coach Dan Monson’s base salary went from $358,640, which was tops among the league’s coaches, to $283,560.

In recognition of his standing as the school’s all-time winningest coach, Monson got a heavily restructured five-year contract with supplemental provisions and incentives that will allow him to make much of it back provided the 49ers, who play Hawaii on Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center, return to their once-accustomed place atop the standings and in the postseason.

The re-crafted contract and a mandate to become less of a revolving door for transfers were among the biggest signs that the 49ers and their bold, new athletic director, Andy Fee, were not content to remain middlin’ also-rans in the mid-major Big West.

“Coach Monson is committed to returning our program to the top of the Big West Conference …” Fee wrote in a message addressed to the school’s fans, adding, “I am committed to supporting Coach Monson and this team in our championship pursuits.”

They have a ways to go. The 49ers, who arrive in town with an 8-13 (2-3 conference) record, were once the team to beat in the Big West — if anybody could. And, for a while, not many did.

When UH was preparing to join the conference for the 2012-13 season, The Beach loomed as the team the Rainbow Warriors would have to measure up to. The 49ers were in the midst of a three-year run as champions and in a six-year span they finished no worse than third place.

Monson, the architect of Gonzaga’s rise to prominence before bolting for Minnesota, was the most accomplished head coach to cast his lot in the Big West when he arrived 11 seasons ago. He went on to surpass Jerry Tarkanian as the school’s winningest coach at 193-190.

With his recruiting acumen and the best facilities in the Big West — at least until UH came along — the 49ers set a standard.

But an increasing dependence on transfers and an overly ambitious, coast-to-coast nonconference schedule took its toll. The annual turnover in transfers gave the 49ers some of the best talent in the conference but not much cohesiveness.

A top-20 preconference strength of schedule (including Michigan State, Arizona, Stanford, Missouri, Nebraska, West Virginia and Oregon State last season) heavy on road games provided some stern tests, and the resulting armored car full of guarantee money (some of which went to help underwrite Monson’s lucrative contract) aided the budget. But it also wore the 49ers down before they hit league play as UC Irvine made its move.

The 49ers have shown flashes this year, most notably knocking off league leader UC Irvine at the Anteaters’ gym. But with leading rebounder and accomplished scorer Temidayo Yussuf (12.9 points, 7.2 rebounds per game) sidelined with an injury, they have hit a three-game skid.

Whether the 49ers can put things together in time to return to a championship run in the conference tournament remains to be seen. But the ’Bows would be advised to take advantage while they can.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.