In the cavernous inside of Matthew Knight Arena, the newest era of Oregon basketball began. There wasn’t trumpet fanfare or a red carpet, but there were a bunch of smiling faces as the media and University faculty and alumni watched as Dana Altman was introduced Tuesday afternoon as the 19th men’s basketball head coach.
The search, directed by former Oregon athletic director Pat Kilkenny, spanned more than a month, with rumors swirling about to whom the University had offered the job. Kilkenny said the media greatly exaggerated the number of offers, but ultimately, Altman accepted the job, and now he looks to the future.
Dana, the 16-year Creighton head coach who accumulated a record of 410-243 in 21 seasons as Division-I coach, said that not being Oregon’s first choice didn’t bother him in the slightest.
“Well, you look at my wife, then you look at me — I wasn’t her first choice either,” Altman joked during his 30-minute press conference. “It doesn’t worry me, doesn’t bother me at all. I’m here. This is where we’re going to be playing. I’m
excited about it.”
The announcement of Altman’s hiring yesterday marked a good day for many Oregonians. Altman was joined on the podium by his wife Reva, University President Richard Lariviere and interim athletic director Lorraine Davis.
“This is a very happy day for the University of Oregon,” Lariviere said. “We set our sights very high. We took our time. We were very careful and thorough, and we have a very, very happy outcome.”
Davis added, “We started with high expectations, and I believe we exceeded them.”
In Altman’s 16 years as head coach at Creighton in Omaha, Neb., he led the Bluejays to seven NCAA tournament berths and another five National Invitation Tournament bids.
Since 1999, his teams have gone to a post-season tournament every year.
Before Creighton, he spent four years as head coach of Kansas State University, as well as three years as an assistant with the Wildcats from 1986-89. Altman has been named coach of the year four different times by three conferences he’s coached in, and in 2003 he was a finalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year Award.
Kilkenny spoke after the conference about recruiting Altman, saying Altman’s name kept coming up in his talks around the country with basketball insiders. And after he spent Friday afternoon with him in Indianapolis, he knew Altman was going to be a Duck.
“I can tell you, after spending four hours with that gentleman, it was very clear to me that he was going to be our next head coach,” Kilkenny said.
Altman said the support fans give to the football team is something he can duplicate with the basketball team, and he said it’s possible with a new arena.
“(There have been) 68 consecutive sellouts for the football program, and we hope to have to have something like that here in the basketball department,” Altman said. “We hope to have this place sold out. We hope to play an exciting brand that people want to come out and see.”
Altman answered questions for 20 minutes about the future of the program, addressing some key points about his coaching staff, as well as his players. When asked about the three players who have been given their release (Matthew Humphrey, Josh Crittle and Drew Wiley), and the possibility of them coming back, he said it was a possibility, but he wanted players at Oregon who wanted to be here.
“We want players who want to be here,” Altman said. “We’re going to have a team that competes with guys who want to be here.”
As for the new coaching staff, he said it would be at least two weeks before it’s set.
“We’re going to step back and maybe take a week or two here to really see what our staff needs,” Altman said. “I’m going to be honest: This is not an area I grew up in. This is not an area I’m familiar with. I have to do some work very quickly in the next week or two to make sure that we cover that nation but that we have a real specialty on the West Coast.”
Altman was also asked about his timeline for success. He responded realistically, but he didn’t rule out going to the NCAA Tournament next year because he said it wouldn’t be fair to the seniors on the team.
“I’m not going to sell them short and say we’re looking long-term,” Altman said. “The seniors on this team want to go next year. This is their last chance. I’m not going to make any bold predictions or sit back and say it’s going to take awhile. We’re going to compete and try and find a way next year.
“We can build something special here.”
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