With the college basketball season rapidly approaching, the Oregon Ducks have found themselves in uncharted territory.
Longtime coach Dana Altman is retiring, the University of Oregon announced on Wednesday. Current assistant coach and former DePaul head coach Tony Stubblefield will be the interim coach for the year, and a national search will begin following the end of the season.
Stubblefield was with the Ducks for much of Altman’s tenure aside from three years coaching DePaul from 2021-24.
Altman, 68, has been head coach of the Ducks since 2010 and will retire with the most wins in program history at 382, nearly 150 more wins than any other Oregon coach, over 16 seasons.
“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.”
Altman led the 2016-17 team to a school-record 33 wins and to its first Final Four since Oregon’s 1939 run to its first NCAA championship. Altman’s Ducks won four Pac-12 titles and reached nine NCAA tournaments overall.
Before arriving in Eugene, Altman spent 16 seasons at Creighton, leading the Bluejays to seven NCAA tournaments and 327 wins.
His 792 wins are 15th all-time.
