Oregon HC blasts low turnout for NIT loss, suggests own potential firing
Dana Altman may not hold his title as head coach of the Oregon men's basketball team much longer if his own words come back to haunt him.
The 13-year Ducks coach blasted the school's low home turnout for its NIT quarterfinal loss to Wisconsin on Tuesday and following the contest suggested his own potential firing as a possible way to fix things.
The 64-year-old Altman has gone 321-140 at Oregon and guided the program to seven NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Final Four run in 2017. The Ducks haven't been back to March Madness since the 2020-2021 campaign though and went just 21-15 this season before losing to UCLA in the second round of the Pac-12 Tournament.
According to OregonLive.com, Altman is under contract with Oregon through the 2027-2028 campaign. Per Eamonn Brennan of The Athletic, however, the former longtime Creighton lead man may have taken the court for the final time in Eugene.
"This is, fundamentally, on Altman. It’s not just about being a 'promoter,' because no one would have confused Altman for that when he was hired (he is one of the more intentionally anodyne people in the business). It is about putting a worthwhile product on the floor," Brennan wrote. "Fans are checked out, anyway, and what worked so well in the first half of his tenure — culminating in those deep 2016 and 2017 tournament runs — is clearly no longer hitting. It might be time for Oregon to shake things up and for Altman to find a new project."
Earlier this month, the University of North Carolina made headlines when it denied an invitation to the NIT. While Altman and the Ducks could've gone down that road, the Tar Heels generated some controversy with their decision, namely from Hall of Fame coach Tommy Penders.
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