Dana Altman is retiring after 16 seasons as the head coach of Oregon, the school announced on Wednesday.
Altman, 68, has been coaching at the Division I level for nearly four decades. He had brief stints at Marshall (1989-90) and Kansas State (1990-94) before a lengthy run at Creighton (1994-2010). He left Omaha to take over Oregon in 2010 and retires as the winningest coach in program history.
“I have had to make two really tough decisions in my coaching career,” Altman said in a statement. “The first was leaving Creighton, a place my family and I dearly loved, to come to Oregon. This is the second. I’ve loved every minute of coaching here, and stepping away is difficult and truly painful. I love coaching, it’s what I know best and what I’ve been fortunate enough to do for almost five decades. I’m going to miss my coaches, my players and our incredible fans more than I can express. But I know this is the right thing to do at this time. I want to thank former AD Pat Kilkenny for giving me a chance here, Phil Knight and Tim Boyle for their constant and unwavering support, my coaches and players past and present, (current AD) Rob (Mullens), President (Karl) Scholz, and of course our amazing fans. It’s been the honor of my life to coach the Ducks.”
Assistant coach Tony Stubblefield will serve as the Ducks’ interim head coach for the 2026-27 campaign. A national search for the permanent head coach of the program will begin following the season.
Over his 37-year head coaching career, Altman posted a 792-425 record, winning the 15th-most games in NCAA history. At Creighton, he led the Bluejays to seven NCAA Tournaments, three MVC regular-season crowns and 11 straight 20-win seasons. He was named MVC Coach of the Year in 2001 and 2002.
Altman found even more success during his tenure at Oregon. He took the Ducks to nine NCAA Tournaments, including five trips to the Sweet Sixteen and a Final Four appearance in 2017. Under his guidance, the program claimed four Pac-12 regular-season championships and four Pac-12 Tournament titles. He was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year three times in a four-year span (2013, 2015, 2016), a run matched only by Arizona’s Lute Olson.
Prior to last year, when the Ducks finished 12-20, Altman had won at least 20 games in each of his 15 seasons at the helm.
“Dana built a program at Oregon to a level that very few coaches build anywhere,” Mullens said. “Winning 382 games over 16 years, including making nine NCAA Tournaments and a Final Four, is an incredible track record. But the record book tells only part of the story. Dana and (his wife) Reva have given so much of themselves to this university and to the young men who played for him, and we thank him for all his contributions to Oregon student-athletes, the game of basketball, and the University of Oregon.”
The Ducks will host Montana on Nov. 2 to kick off the 2026-27 season.
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