Winona, Minn. - Winona State Athletics is proud to present the "Warrior Stories" series, offering fans and followers of Warrior Athletics a glimpse into the success that former Winona State student-athletes have had after graduation transitioning into professional world. Warrior Stories is presented by HyVee, a corporate sponsor of Winona State Athletics. 
 
This edition of Warrior Stories features Josh Mongan, a former Winona State men's basketball standout who now works as a certified public accountant for Moss Adams LLP in Colorado. Despite a major hurdle to overcome with a season-ending injury as a sophomore, Mongan returned to compete for head coach Todd Eisner for two more seasons. By his senior season, Mongan had evolved his game into the consummate floor general point guard- dishing assists, running the Warrior offense, and taking care of the basketball. 

Mongan's career saw him claim a host of academic awards, including being named to NSIC All-Academic teams in 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17.  He was one of three Warriors - along with Riley Bambenek and Kyle Bauman -  to earn the prestigious National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court award in 2016-17. Statistically, Mongan's numbers point to a balanced output, including a 83.3% shooting percentage from the floor as a senior and hitting 30 three-pointers in his freshman campaign, good for third-best on the team that year. 

Mongan and former Warrior gymnast Danielle Thenell, were married in June of 2018, and reside in Morrison, Colorado.  The Warrior couple are expecting their first-born this September.

Read on for the Warrior Story of Josh Mongan, a recent WSU graduate in accounting who first enrolled in Winona State University in the fall of 2012 and graduated with a degree in accounting in 2017.

1) Where are you now, and what are you doing professionally?  "After graduation, I moved to Colorado. The reason for the move was in April of 2017, I got engaged to Danielle Thenell (now Mongan), who was a gymnast at Winona State, and she is originally from Littleton, Colo. We got married in June of 2018, bought a puppy in June of 2019, bought a house in September of 2019 in Morrison, Colo., and to keep the train moving, are expecting a new born in September of this year to make life just a little crazier for us.  My profession is in Public Accounting. I am a Certified Public Accountant and a Senior Auditor at Moss Adams LLP, which is headquartered in Seattle, Wash, and our office is located in downtown Denver."
 
2) When you came to Winona State from Germantown, were you set on your academic path in accounting, or did you select that major after arriving on campus? "I was set on my path. I always credit my accounting profession to Mr. Baumann, my high school accounting teacher. My senior year, I took his general accounting class and fell in love with numbers oddly enough."
 
3) How did your academic training at WSU help you in your current role?  "I took the 5-year route at WSU, which I originally wasn't too fond of but that ended up paying huge dividends for me. When I started at WSU, I knew I liked accounting but did not know anything about obtaining a CPA. To obtain a CPA, you need to graduate with 150 credits and the 5-year route made that possible for me. With not knowing anything about the CPA, I don't think it would have been a route I would have taken without the Professor's at WSU discussing this option, prepping you for the exam, and talking about the benefits it could bring you later on. Lastly, it was not until my 5^th year of school when I took an auditing class and thought to myself this may be something, I could see myself doing in the future. Now, I'm still auditing, obtained my CPA License and really do enjoy what I do thanks to WSU."
 
4) As a student-athlete at Winona State, you earned a 3.85 GPA in a tough major.  How did you balance the travel in the NSIC and the demands of keeping up with schoolwork?  "Part of it is just who I am. My mom is a High School Principal so slacking in class was never an option. One thing I enjoyed at WSU was your freshman year required a certain number of hours at "Study Tables" each week, which teaches the in-coming student-athletes right away the importance of schoolwork. I also think the NSIC does a great job of limiting mid-week travel, making it easier for student-athletes to focus on school during the week and then focus on their sport later in the week or on the weekend."
 
5) Your Winona State bio noted that your dad played football at Northern Michigan; in high school, was there any "friendly" advice to you look there or other GLIAC schools?  "Believe it or not, I received zero advice on looking anywhere but I don't mean that in a bad way. I had a limited number of schools recruit me, but I always knew playing sports in college was something I wanted if given the opportunity. My parents knew that as well and so we focused on the schools that were interested. I credit my parents for not being too involved and trusting me during the process. Once I told them I was picking WSU, there was never any doubt or question, just love and support from them. And maybe possibly knowing I was only 3.5 hours away made it a little sweeter for them."
 
6) Also in your bio is that you missed most of the 2014-15 season due to injury.  However, you put together great back-to-back seasons to close out your career.  Can you describe what it was like to come back from injury to play at such a high level? "For anybody that has had a season-ending injury, they know how difficult it is to rehab day-in and day-out until given that chance to complete again. The support system of my family, teammates, coaches, etc., made it that much easier to push each day when maybe I did not have the energy. I was not sure what to expect the first time I stepped back on the court, but it was just a blessing to be out there with the guys again. If anything, the injury taught me the classic but still very true story of never taking anything for granted. So each day I stepped on the court after that, I was giving it my all to help us succeed."
               
7)  Your senior year, you had the 2nd best assist-to-turnover ratio in NCAA Division II.  Do/did you have a NBA player you tried to model your game after?  "If there was anybody that I modeled my game after, it was Steve Nash. I was never the tallest or most athletic but was always going to out-work my opponent. Steve was a pure shooter, an amazing passer but most importantly, a game manager and true point guard leading his team who focused on winning. I always thought the skill of leading and winning as a point guard was more important than any other skill."
 
8) In looking at your stats, you appear to be very reliable at the free-throw line; several games of 9-for-9, 6-for-6, etc.   Anything special you did to become so steady in that part of your game?  "Practice makes perfect. I learn best when I physically do things so shooting free-throws after practice was a must. But I think the key factor in being a great free-throw shooter is having confidence. I was put in some stressful free-throw shooting situations in high school that carried over the WSU so whenever I was in that position, I already had the confidence it was going in. The additional practice just made it that much easier for me."
 
9) Anything else you'd like to share with the Warrior faithful?  GO WARRIORS.

A tip of the Warrior helmet in thanks to Josh Mongan for his time on contributing to Warrior Stories, and congratulations to both Josh and Danielle (Thenell) Mongan on the impending edition to the Warrior family! 

For more on Winona State University athletics, be sure to check out  www.WINONASTATEWARRIORS.com and @WinonaStateATH.