Dana Dean Altman (born June 16, 1958) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach who is the head coach of the Oregon Ducks men's team. Previously he was head coach at Creighton,

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

and

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

. Altman has won conference coach of the year awards at each school he has coached, and has led his teams to 15 appearances in the NCAA tournament.

College education

Dana Altman began playing

at Fairbury Junior College (now Southeast Community College) in Fairbury,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

. He earned an associate degree in business administration there in 1978. He then received his undergraduate degree in the same field at

Eastern New Mexico University Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU or Eastern) is a public university with a main campus in Portales, New Mexico, and two associate degree-granting branches, one at Ruidoso and one at Roswell. ENMU is New Mexico's largest regional comprehensi ...

in 1980.

Coaching career

Marshall

In his first NCAA Division I head coaching position, Altman became the head men's basketball coach at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia in 1989. Although he only spent one season as the coach of the Thundering Herd, Altman led the Herd to a 15–13 record and to runners-up in the Southern Conference tournament losing to East Tennessee State in the tournament championship game. Altman left Marshall after only one season to replace his mentor,

Lon Kruger Lonnie Duane Kruger (born August 19, 1952) is a retired American college and professional basketball coach who was most recently the men's basketball head coach of the University of Oklahoma. Kruger played college basketball for Kansas State Uni ...

, at Kansas State.

Kansas State

Although his four-year tenure as

's head coach produced one NCAA tournament appearance, Altman will be remembered most for his ability to win close ball games, and for pulling off some of the biggest upsets in school history. Altman's teams were 28–13 in games decided by six points or less, which included a 6–1 mark in one-point games. His 1992–93 club perpetuated a Kansas State tradition. Picked to finish last in the Big Eight, Altman's Wildcats won 11 games in the final minute, earned the school's first Top 25 ranking in five seasons, finished 19–11, reached the championship game of the Big Eight tournament and returned Kansas State to the NCAA tournament for the 21st time. Altman's peers named him Big Eight Coach-of-the-Year in 1993 and he capped the season by upsetting No. 6 Kansas 74–67 in the semifinals of the conference tournament. The following season, he made it two in a row over

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

when he upset the No. 1 ranked Jayhawks 68–64 in Lawrence. His 1993–94 squad finished the season with a 20–14 record and advanced to the NIT Final Four in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Following the season, he accepted the head coaching position at Creighton, in his home state of

Creighton

During his time at Creighton, his athletes earned three All-American honors on the court and three other Academic All-America laurels in the classroom. Three players he coached at Creighton,

Kyle Korver Kyle Elliot Korver (born March 17, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player who currently serves as the director of player affairs and development for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played col ...

Rodney Buford Rodney Alan "The Sheriff" Buford (born November 2, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for the London Lightning of the National Basketball League of Canada. He played college basketball for the Creighton Blue ...

, and

Anthony Tolliver Anthony Lamar Tolliver (born June 1, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Creighton Bluejays, and played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 11 different franchis ...

, have played in the NBA. Altman was named Valley Coach of the Year twice, first in 2001 and also in 2002. Altman was a finalist for the

Naismith College Coach of the Year Naismith College Coach of the Year Award is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate coach each season since 1987. The award was originally given to the two winning coaches of the NCAA Divi ...

and named the NABC District 12 and

USBWA The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 by National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The USBWA annually awar ...

District VI Coach of the Year in 2002–03. Altman became the 14th head coach in Creighton history following the 1993–94 season after four years as the head coach at

. Hired on March 31, 1994, Altman inherited a team that posted a 7–22 ledger the year before his arrival and led the Bluejays to a slightly improved 7–19 record in 1994–95 before his 1995–96 squad jumped to 14–15. In 1996–97, Altman's team was 15–15 and followed with another substantial jump to 18–10 and a bid to the NIT in 1997–98. On April 2, 2007, Altman announced that he would become the head coach for the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot (o ...

, in a deal that was rumored to be a $1.5 million per year, 5-year contract. Only one day later he had a change of heart and returned to

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest c ...

and his team at Creighton, citing family reasons. He had not consulted his wife or high school age daughter prior to accepting the job. On February 5, 2009, Altman won his 300th game as Creighton head coach. In his first 13 years at Creighton, Altman ranked third all-time on the coaching victories list in the 99-year history of the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

, trailing only Hall of Fame coaches

Henry Iba Henry Payne Iba (; August 6, 1904 – January 15, 1993) was an American basketball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at Northwest Missouri State Teacher's College, now known as Northwest Missouri St ...

and

Eddie Hickey Edgar S. Hickey (December 20, 1902 – December 5, 1980) was an American basketball and football coach. He coached basketball at his alma mater of Creighton University (1935–1943, 1946–1947), St. Louis University (1947–1958) and Marquette U ...

. His record in 16 seasons with the

Creighton Bluejays The Creighton Bluejays, or Jays, are the athletic teams that represent Creighton University, a Jesuit/Catholic University in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. They compete in NCAA Division I in the Big East Conference. Sports sponsored Baseba ...

was 327–176 (), the most wins in school history.

Oregon

On April 24, 2010, Altman agreed to a 7-year contract worth nearly $2 million per year with

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. The university made it official on April 26 with a press conference. As of 2020, he is the currently highest-paid public employee of the state of Oregon. Under Dana Altman, the University of Oregon has consistently been one of the top basketball schools in the Pac-12, with notable conference achievements including three regular season Pac-12 Conference championships (2016, 2017, 2019), and three Pac-12 tournament championships (2013, 2016, 2019). His prior coaching experience playing against UCLA was one of the main reasons why Oregon recruited him, as the Ducks wanted to improve standings. Altman has also led the Ducks to success in the NCAA tournament, including a Final Four run in 2017. In 2013 Oregon earned its first NCAA tournament bid under Dana Altman. This run ended in the sweet sixteen. Oregon continued this success, making the NCAA tournament in 2014 and 2015. Both the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons ended in the round of 32. On March 13, 2016, Oregon earned its first #1 seed in the NCAA tournament in program history thanks to winning the Pac-12 regular season and conference tournament titles. On March 26, 2016, the Oregon Ducks lost, as a #1 seed in the Elite Eight to the #2 seeded Oklahoma Sooners due in large part to a lights out shooting performance by Buddy Hield. On November 11, 2016, Oregon and Altman agreed on a seven-year contract extension that will keep him in Eugene through the 2022–2023 season. On March 25, 2017, Altman led the #3 seeded Ducks to their first Final Four in 78 years with a 74–60 upset over #1 seed Kansas in Kansas City. This was Altman's first Final Four appearance. Oregon would go on to lose in the Final Four to end what was considered a massively successful season for Altman and the Ducks On November 17, 2017, Altman won his 600th career Division I game in a 114–56 Ducks win over Alabama State. On March 14, 2019, Oregon and Altman agreed on a three-year contract extension that will keep him in Eugene through the 2025–2026 season. Two weeks later, Altman notched his 235th win at Oregon with a victory over UC Irvine in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, tying

Ernie Kent Ernest Kent (born January 22, 1955)GoDucks.com E ...

as the winningest coach in school history. He broke the record with Oregon's first win of the following season, over Fresno State on November 5, 2019.

Personal life

Altman was born in

Wilber, Nebraska Wilber is a city in Saline County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 1,855 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Saline County. Wilber is the official " Czech Capital of the USA" and hosts an annual Czech festival in August. Wil ...

. He is married to the former Reva Phillips. They have three sons Jordan, Chase, and Spencer, and one daughter, Audra. Altman, who had been an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...

in the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded in ...

, received a

Distinguished Eagle Scout Award The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (DESA) is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). It is awarded to an Eagle Scout for distinguished service in his profession and to his community for a period of at least 25 years aft ...

in 2008.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Altman, Dana 1958 births Living people Basketball coaches from Nebraska Basketball players from Nebraska Creighton Bluejays men's basketball coaches Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds men's basketball players Guards (basketball) Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball coaches Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball coaches Moberly Greyhounds men's basketball coaches Oregon Ducks men's basketball coaches People from Crete, Nebraska Western Colorado Mountaineers men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players