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When Oregon Ducks men’s basketball coach Dana Altman officially retired on Wednesday, he didn’t point to his age, his accomplishments or the years he spent building the Ducks into a consistent NCAA Tournament team.
Instead, Altman referenced comments made by Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, 71, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer who has led the Spartans since 1995, about knowing when it was time to step away from coaching.
Michigan State’s head coach Tom Izzo addresses the crowd after the Spartans exhibition game against Incarnate Word on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
“Last March, someone I truly respect, Tom Izzo made a comment. Somebody asked him about retirement, and he said, ‘The minute I don’t feel good, the minute I don’t feel I’m giving my AD, president, and school every ounce of energy I have every day, or that energy drops, you don’t have to worry about me being here,'” Altman recalled during Wednesday’s press conference. “And I had two weeks off in August, and I thought my energy would return, and it didn’t.”
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Izzo made those comments following Michigan State’s Sweet 16 loss to UConn in the NCAA Tournament. When asked where he saw himself in five years, the longtime Spartans coach pushed back against retirement speculation and explained that he would know when it was time to leave if he could no longer give his athletic director, university president and school everything he had each day.
For Altman, that standard became a reality. After more than a decade leading Oregon, including the program’s run to the 2017 Final Four, he recognized that taking time away wasn’t enough to restore the energy he felt he needed to continue coaching at the level Oregon deserved. Rather than waiting until he could no longer give the program his best, Altman made the decision to step away.
Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens, right, and former men’s basketball coach Dana Altman on stage during a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/dana-altman-explains-michigan-states-160026338.html
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Publish date : 2026-10-09 16:00:00
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