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.
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.
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 down, like Virginia Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett and Auburn Tigers coach Bruce Pearl, to name just a couple.
Altman continued on the matter, "It's a different time. Different era. And it's been a hard adjustment for me. I'm done dealing with agents because all I did was argue with them and get combative. We lost players because I just didn't want to listen to them. We used to have the parents, AAU coaches, girlfriends; I was about sixth on the list. Now you add agents, and I'm seventh on the list of people they listen to. It's just a different time."
Only two returning players from the 2025-26 group decided to return to Oregon. Hence why Altman has recently brought on former players of his like Jordan Bell, who was holding a box of tissues at his recent press conference, and Ta'Juan Porter to join this season's coaching staff. They know what these young athletes want and can help guide them in the right direction.
Dana Altman's Successes in the Pacific Northwest, College Basketball
Speaking of Bell and the 2016-17 group that made the Final Four in Phoenix, Arizona, that was the best roster that Altman ever put together in his illustrious career. Five of his players from that team would end up reaching the NBA. In total, Altman was involved with 15 players getting to the NBA during his Creighton Bluejays and Oregon tenure.
- Guard Tyler Dorsey
- Guard Payton Pritchard
- Forward Dillon Brooks
- Forward Jordan Bell
- Forward Chris Boucher
Altman became a head coach at the Division I level back in the 1989-90 season with the Marshall Thundering Herd. He then moved on to join the Kansas State Wildcats from 1990-94, and next with Creighton from 1994 to 2010. With the Bluejays, Altman won three Missouri Valley Conference regular-season titles and six tournament titles.
In his 37 years at the helm, he has collected a grand total of 762 career victories. Altman belongs in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame someday. But at the same time, the past couple of seasons with the Ducks have been rough to watch. A coaching change like this, for the sake of keeping the national brand relevant, was needed.
Is Tony Stubblefield the Long-Term Answer?
Oregon has promoted assistant coach and former DePaul Blue Demons head coach Tony Stubblefield as the interim head coach. The short answer is likely no, but a solid replacement in this transition period, with a national search going on during the fall and winter.
Stubblefield struggled with DePaul in the Big East Conference; the now 56-year-old finished with a 28-54 overall record over the course of three seasons. He made his mark on the recruiting front, having brought in countless five-star and four-star talents to Matthew Knight Arena from 2010-2021 and once again starting in 2024.
According to Altman, Stubblefield is able and willing to deal with the important NIL factor that every athletic department either lives or dies by.
"Tony's going to do a great job," says Altman. "Tony's energetic, and he didn't have a chance at DePaul. He was there the first year that they were .500. He didn't have any money, and if you don't have any money... Kelvin Sampson made a great statement. He said that the school's expectations should match their financial commitment."
"Because in this day and age, you've got to have the resources to compete," he added. "And Tony didn't have them at DePaul, so I think he got a raw deal there. I know what he can do."
After Stubblefield, a young prodigy on the bench who is willing to roll out the red carpet for top recruits out of high school and, more importantly, for experienced veterans in the transfer portal, is needed. Especially in the Big Ten Conference, where News Expeditions' Michael J. Donnelly estimates that Oregon's basketball NIL plus revenue sharing is at $9.8 million. Despite being listed as the fifth-highest in the Big Ten, it's not enough to compete for titles in today's landscape.
Status of Oregon's 2026-27 Roster
On the topic of the transfer portal, it will not open for 31 days instead of five days after Altman's retirement on Oct. 7. This is frustrating to deal with, as at least a couple of players might ultimately decide to look elsewhere, even after the official start of the 2026-27 campaign.
Here is the Ducks' upcoming roster at this moment:
- Senior guard Fred Payne
- Sophomore guard Jasper Johnson
- Junior guard/forward Tyrone Riley IV
- True freshman wing Tahj Ariza
- Senior wing Andrew Meadow
- Senior forward/center Taylor Bol Bowen
- Sophomore forward Dwayne Aristode
- Junior forward Pharaoh Compton
- Senior forward/center Sean Stewart
- Freshman guard/forward Seven Spurlock
- Junior guard Wei Lin
That's at least 11 confirmed scholarship players towards Oregon's 15-man roster, 12 with walk-on junior forward Luke Johnson. Many questions still lurk in the air:
Does walk-on sophomore guard Rian Gonzales count toward the roster limit, or is he considered a designated student-athlete? Has guard Drew Carter found an extra year of college eligibility as a fifth-year, as he's been spotted practicing in a video posted by Oregon Men's Basketball on X? What about currently ineligible fifth-year forward/center Malique Ewin's ongoing court case in the state of Colorado with the NCAA?
Don't forget that true freshman forward Kendre Harrison plans to join the basketball squad at the conclusion of the college football season. Harrison currently plays tight end for coach Dan Lanning on the gridiron.
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