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Many around the Oregon Ducks basketball program knew that coach Dana Altman was on his way out the door, but they just didn’t realize it would be a bit over a month before the start of the 2026-27 season.
After 16 seasons and 382 wins with a .677 winning percentage at Oregon, including four Pac-12 Conference regular-season and tournament championships, Altman announced his retirement from coaching the game of college basketball. The Field of 68 was the first to report on Oct. 7.
Oregon men’s basketball coach Dana Altman reflects on the moment during a press conference on his retirement on Oct. 7, 2026, at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Many deciding factors came into this sudden decision for the most successful basketball coach to come through Eugene, Oregon, and one of the greatest to compete in the NCAA, for that matter.
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Why Dana Altman Thought This Was the Right Time to Move Away
At 68 years old, Altman’s health was coming into play, and it was affecting his overall day-to-day energy toward the team. It wouldn’t be fair for his players’ futures to continue with him as the leader.
In his retirement press conference in front of the 2026-27 team and media, Altman stated, “If I don’t have that energy and that confidence for them to feed off, I’m not the leader. And there are many guys that I respect (Houston Cougars coach) Kelvin Sampson, (Tennessee Volunteers coach) Rick Barnes; those guys are older than I am, but they’re still getting it done. But we all have standards. I’m not trying to act like, but I just I’m not going to be able to perform to my standard.”
Altman has also wanted all of his kids to enjoy being a Duck and being a part of the community, not someone who just wants to receive a check. The Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) era is a young coach’s game to deal with, not something Altman wants to stress over any longer. NIL has forced a few other high-major figures in the college basketball scene to step…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/dana-altmans-departure-raises-nil-130605026.html
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Publish date : 2026-10-12 13:06:00
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