University of Oregon Athletics

2013 National Jim Phelan Coach of the Year
2013 Pac-12 Coach of the Year
2015 Pac-12 Coach of the Year
2016 Pac-12 Coach of the Year
2018 Creighton Athletic Hall of Fame

Dana Altman is one of only three active coaches in NCAA Division I with 26 consecutive winning seasons. He is part of an exclusive fraternity that includes Hall-of-Famers Tom Izzo and Bill Self.

Altman became the 24th head coach to record 700 career wins at the Division I level in 2021-22 and is the winningest head coach in Oregon history with 321 wins. In 2016-17, Altman led Oregon back to the Final Four for the first time in 78 years and coached the Ducks to consecutive Pac-12 titles in 2020 and 2021.
 
In 2019, he became the winningest coach in Pac-12 Tournament history and now has 22 victories. Oregon is one of four DI program with 20-plus wins in 13-straight seasons, alongside Belmont, Gonzaga, and Kansas. Coach Altman is one of three coaches to have been named a DI conference coach of the year at four schools, joining Kermit Davis (Ole Miss) and Cliff Ellis (Coastal Carolina).

The 2013 National Coach of the Year and three-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year, Altman is 321-140 in Eugene, and 731-383 in 34 seasons as a head coach at the NCAA Division I level in stints at Oregon, Creighton, Kansas State and Marshall.

Altman, the 19th head coach in the history of the University of Oregon men’s basketball program, led Oregon to five straight NCAA Tournaments (2013-17) for the first time in school history, winning at least one game in each of those years. Included in those NCAA appearances are a Final Four (2017), two Elite Eights (2016, 2017) and three Sweet 16’s (2013, 2016, 2017). The Ducks made their fourth Sweet 16 appearance under Altman in 2019 and were named the Pac-12’s automatic qualifier for the 2020 NCAA Tournament before the worldwide Coronavirus epidemic canceled the postseason. The Ducks’ fifth Sweet Sixteen appearance under Altman came in 2021. Altman now has 25 seasons of 20-plus wins to his credit (11 at Creighton, 13 at Oregon, one at Kansas State).

Last season, Oregon extended the 20-win streak, reaching the quarterfinals of the NIT. Altman became the 11^th Pac-12 coach to record over 150 Pac-12 games, and the sixth-fastest at 229 games. Center N’Faly Dante earned First Team All-Pac-12 honors, averaging career highs in points, rebounds and blocks, ranking fourth in the conference with a 61.4 field goal percentage.
 
The 2021-22 Ducks secured coach his 300^th win at Oregon and his 700^th overall with a top-5 road win over No. 3 UCLA. Two days later, the Ducks upset No. 5 USC to become the first team since 1976 to beat consecutive top-five teams on the road. Individually, Will Richardson became the 37^th 1,000-point scorer in school history and was named second team All-Pac-12.
 
In 2020-21, Oregon garnered its second consecutive national position player of the year honor under Altman when Chris Duarte was named the 2021 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year. Duarte was a third-team All-American, the AP Pac-12 Player of the Year, a member of the Pac-12 all-defensive team, and was named to the all-Pac-12 team along with Eugene Omoruyi.
In June, Duarte became the highest drafted player of the Altman era when he was selected 13^th overall by the Indiana Pacers.

Altman helped Payton Pritchard earn the Bob Cousy National Point Guard of the Year award for the first time in program history. The Pac-12 player of the year was Oregon’s first consensus first team All-American in 80 years as the Ducks won the Pac-12 regular season title for the third time in the last five years despite a roster that was constantly changing due to injury. The Ducks’ win at No. 5 Michigan was the highest-ranked nonconference win in program history as Oregon went 6-2 against ranked foes in 2019-20.

Oregon’s 2018-19 season will be remembered for the Ducks’ winning four games in four days to claim the Pac-12 Tournament title. Oregon rode that momentum to a Sweet 16 appearance, losing to eventual national champion Virginia. In addition to another 20-win season and a postseason appearance, the 2017-18 season saw another first for Altman when Troy Brown Jr. became his first career NBA first round draft choice (No. 15 overall, Washington).

Oregon entered the 2016-17 season with lofty expectations, and the Ducks lived up to every one of them. The Ducks won the Pac-12 title for the second consecutive season and advanced to the Final Four for the first time since the 1939 Webfoots won the very first NCAA title. Along the way, Oregon won a program-record 33 games and also reached a high-water mark for conference victories with 16. Dillon Brooks was named the Pac-12 player of the year and a consensus all-American, while Jordan Bell was the Pac-12 defensive player of the year and the NCAA Midwest Regional most outstanding player. Jordan, Brooks and Tyler Dorsey were all selected in the 2017 NBA Draft.

The 2015-16 season saw Altman reach new heights as a coach and achieve honors matched only by some of the very best mentors in the history of the Pac-12 Conference. Altman guided Oregon to the Pac-12’s regular season and conference title in the same year for the first time in school history. He also reached the NCAA’s Elite Eight for the first time and was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the third time in four seasons, a feat matched only by Hall of Famer Lute Olson of Arizona. The individual honors won by players under his guidance included all-American Brooks, Pac-12 Tournament MOP Elgin Cook, Pac-12 all-defensive selection Chris Boucher and Pac-12 all-freshman pick Dorsey.

In 2014-15, in one of the finest coaching performances of his career, Altman guided a team that had only three returning scholarship players to a 26-10 record, a runner-up finish in the Pac-12 (13-5) and the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He was the runaway choice for Pac-12 Coach of the Year, while Joseph Young tied the school single-season scoring record in being named Pac-12 Player of the Year. Cook was an all-Pac-12 second-team selection, while Bell and Brooks made the Pac-12’s all-freshman team.

The 2013-14 season saw Altman win his 500th game as a Division I head coach when Oregon defeated Washington on Feb. 19. He also joined Basketball Hall of Famer Howard Hobson as the only men to lead Oregon to four consecutive 20-win seasons. He guided Oregon to a 24-10 overall record and an NCAA Tournament win. Young was an all-conference second team selection and an all-Pac-12 tournament pick, while Mike Moser was an honorable mention selection by the conference.

Altman’s 2012-13 Oregon Ducks became the first UO team since 2008 to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. The Ducks finished the season 28-9 and won the Pac-12 Tournament. Altman was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year before going on to earn Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year honors. Senior E.J. Singler was an all-league first team selection, while Johnathan Loyd was named Most Outstanding Player of the Pac-12 Tournament as the honors were spread around nearly the entire team. Senior Arsalan Kazemi was a Pac-12 all-defensive pick before going on to become a second round draft choice of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers.

During the 2011-12 season, Altman led the Ducks to a 24-10 overall record and a 13-5 Pac-12 Conference mark which was good for a share of second place in the final league standings. The Ducks earned a bid to the National Invitation Tournament and recorded victories over LSU and Iowa before falling at top-seed Washington in the tournament quarterfinals. Under Altman’s tutelage, Devoe Joseph became the first Duck since the 2006-07 season to be named first team all-conference, while Singler was named to the all-conference second team.

In his first season at Oregon, Altman led the Ducks to just the 12th season of 20+ victories in the history of the program. He became just the third UO head coach to tally 20+ wins in his first season on the job. Oregon went 21-18 overall and 7-11 in Pac-12 play. Altman posted the second-highest win total of any first-year UO head coach.

Only John Warren (30 wins in 1944-45) posted more in his first year on the sidelines. Oregon participated in the 2011 College Basketball Invitational, defeating Altman’s former team – Creighton – in the best-of-three championship series.

Altman arrived at UO after spending 16 seasons at Creighton where he became the school’s all-time winningest coach with a record of 327-176 (.650). He led the Blue Jays to 13 consecutive postseason appearances, a stretch of 11 straight seasons with 20-plus wins, all while producing 10 or more league victories in each of the last 14 seasons. Those three feats were unmatched in the 103 years of the Missouri Valley Conference.

He won four Coach-of-the-Year awards from three different conferences in a span of 13 seasons, including back-to-back MVC coaching honors while he was at the Omaha, Neb., school in 2001 and 2002. Altman was a finalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year Award and was named the NABC District 12 and USBWA District VI Coach of the Year following the 2002-03 campaign.

Creighton participated in seven NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournaments and five National Invitation Tournaments under Altman, advancing to the second round of the NCAA championships in both the 1998-99 and 2001-02 seasons. He led the school to a MVC regular-season title in 2000-01 - its first in 10 years. The Bluejays posted a school-record 29 wins in 2002-03, finishing the season 15th in the Associated Press poll and 23rd in the coaches’ voting.

Altman finished his career at Creighton ranking third all-time on the MVC list of all-time wins (327), trailing only Basketball Hall of Fame coaches Henry Iba (486) and Eddie Hickey (337). In 2007, he was one of 10 coaches named as part of the MVC’s All-Centennial Team. His teams claimed shares of three regular-season Missouri Valley Conference championships (including the 2008-09 crown) and six conference post-season tournament titles. Creighton inducted Altman into its athletics hall of fame in 2018.

Student-athletes under his direction at CU earned six All-America honors on the court and four Academic All-America laurels in the classroom. Three players he coached at Creighton - Kyle Korver, Rodney Buford and Anthony Tolliver - have played in the NBA.

Altman compiled a 68-54 record in four seasons (1990-94) at Kansas State. During that time, Altman led the Wildcats to three straight postseason tourneys and was named the Big Eight Conference Coach of the Year after leading KSU to a 19-11 record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1993.

Altman’s final Kansas State club turned heads nationally with a 68-64 win at No. 1 Kansas on Jan. 17, 1994. K-State eventually advanced to play in the NIT Final Four. Altman’s success at KSU followed him from a brief head coaching stint at Marshall where he was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year in 1990.

While head coach at Southeast Junior College in Fairbury, Neb., his first team (1982-83) rolled to a 29-6 record and a third-place finish in the junior college national tournament and Altman was honored as both Region 9 and the Nebraska College Coach of the Year.

In 1983, Altman accepted the head coaching position at Moberly (Mo.) Junior College, with a three-year run resulting in a staggering 94-18 record (25-9 in 1983-84; 35-5 with a third-place finish at the national tourney in 1984-85; and a 34-4 mark in 1985-86 with a sixth-place finish at nationals).

He was named Region 16 Coach of the Year in both the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons, and was also a finalist for 1986 National Junior College Athletic Association Coach of the Year accolades.

Altman’s playing career began at Southeast Junior College in 1976, where he captained teams to a 22-10 mark in his freshman year and a 26-5 record in his sophomore season.

Altman completed his undergraduate education and playing career at Eastern New Mexico University. After earning his associate degree in business administration from Southeast in 1978, Altman graduated magna cum laude from Eastern New Mexico in 1980 with his bachelor’s degree in the same field.

Altman received his master of business administration degree from Western (Colo.) State in 1981. He served as an assistant coach on the Western State staff from 1980-82.

At Wilber (Neb.) High School, Altman was a two-sport letterman, earning all-conference honors as a quarterback on the football team and as a guard in basketball. Altman was born June 16, 1958, in Crete, Neb. He and his wife, the former Reva Phillips of Stanton, Neb., have three sons, Jordan, Chase and Spencer, one daughter, Audra and two grandchildren.