Getty Image / Ric Tapia
We’ve seen an exodus of college coaches recently, most notably in football. As major college athletics continues to change almost daily, older coaches have decided that it’s a good time to get out.
Retirement rumors have been swirling for Oregon basketball head coach Dana Altman. The all-time winningest coach at Oregon is somehow already 65-years-old.
But, it seems as if he’s staying put. The leader of the Ducks set out on Wednesday to dispel any retirement rumors as the season winds down.
Oregon coach Dana Altman to @fieldof68 on the speculation that he will retire at the end of the season.
"I have NO intention of retiring, and I never have had any plans to retire," Altman said.
Altman, 65, has four years on his contract.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 6, 2024
That should be welcome news to Oregon fans, as Altman is possibly the most underrated coach of the last few decades. He’s led the Ducks to seven NCAA tournaments, including a final four in 2017. They had a heartbreaking loss to UNC in that year’s final four, failing to get a defensive rebound on a free throw with a chance to win the game in the final seconds. But, this is still the best era of Oregon basketball in the modern era. Prior to that, he did an excellent job at Creighton, and was the head coach at Marshall and Kansas State.
The Ducks, who sit at 19-10 (11-7) in a weak PAC 12, will likely need to win the conference tournament to make March Madness, are still having a solid year. But, again, with so many changes coming to college athletics, and Oregon moving to the Big Ten, i can see why some thought this would be a logical time for Dana Altman to retire.
But, I can see why he may want to stick around. It’s not as if Oregon is short on resources for the move to the Big Ten, and they aren’t that far off from being a tournament team this year. If they put up an identical record to the one they have this year in the Big Ten next year, they will be back in the Big Dance since 2020-2021. They will continue their postseason appearance streak this year, as they’ve played in one of the lesser tournaments every year they haven’t made the NCAA Tournament in his tenure.
Altman has exactly 750 wins, which makes him 34th all-time.