Dana Altman retires: Oregon coach steps down in surprise move less than a month before start of 2026-27 season

Oregon coach Dana Altman is retiring less than a month before the 2026-27 season begins, the school announced on Wednesday. Altman has been Oregon’s coach since 2010 and has racked up 792 career wins during his time at Marshall, Kansas State, Creighton and Oregon.

“I have had to make two really tough decisions in my coaching career,” Altman said in a statement released by the school. “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.”

In the annual media poll conducted by The Columbus Dispatch, Oregon was tabbed to finish 14th in the Big Ten. The Ducks went 12-20 overall (5-15 in Big Ten) last season, which marked the program’s worst record since the 2008-09 season. Before that, Oregon had reached the NCAA Tournament three of the last five years.

In 16 seasons with Oregon, Altman won 382 games — the most in program history — and led the Ducks to nine appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Oregon won four Pac-12 regular season titles, four Pac-12 conference titles and reached the Final Four in 2017.

Altman is the latest long-time college coach to step away from the sidelines. Earlier this month, Nevada coach Steve Alford announced that he would be retiring at the conclusion of the 2026-27 season after being a head coach for nearly four decades.

Ducks name former DePaul coach as interim

Oregon assistant coach Tony Stubblefield, who has head coaching experience dating back to his time at DePaul, will serve as the program’s interim coach for the upcoming season. Stubblefield rejoined Oregon’s coaching staff in 2024 after being fired by DePaul. 

Before that, Stubblefield joined Oregon’s staff when Altman was hired back in 2010. As a head coach, Stubblefield has a 30-66 career record. In his first year at DePaul during the 2021-22 season, his team finished with 15 wins. However, DePaul regressed to 10 wins in 2022-23 and won three of its first 18 games the following season before Stubblefield was fired.

“Tony has been on Dana’s staff for most of his time in Eugene and knows this program as well as anyone,” Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said in the release. “Our student-athletes know him and trust him, and he is the right person to lead the Ducks this season.”

Altman is the latest coach to leave with the season approaching

Altman is the latest coach in recent years to announce his retirement shortly before the college basketball season began. Last year, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl stepped away after leading his team to the Final Four the year before. Weeks before the start of the 2024-25 season, Virginia coach Tony Bennett announced his retirement.

The timeline of Altman’s sudden retirement on Oct. 7 is in the middle of when Pearl and Bennett announced they were stepping away. In 2024, Bennett announced on Oct. 18 that he would be retiring, while Pearl announced on Sept. 22 that he was departing the program.

Virginia played its first game of the season just over two weeks later, on Nov. 6. Meanwhile, Auburn had slightly more time to adjust to the coaching change because its first game of the 2025-26 campaign was on Nov. 3. Oregon opens the 2026-27 campaign on Nov. 2 against Montana.

In the first season without Bennett, Virginia finished 15-17 (8-12 ACC), which marked the fewest wins the program had posted since the 2008-09 season. That was the final year before UVa hired Bennett and went on a run of reaching the NCAA Tournament seven of eight seasons, which included a win over Texas Tech in the 2019 national title game.

Virginia elected to conduct a search for its next coach after Ron Sanchez, who served as interim coach, won just 15 games. The Cavaliers landed on former VCU coach Ryan Odom, who helped Virginia reach the 30-win mark for the first time in over a decade during his first season at the helm.

At Auburn, the Tigers were coming off their best season in program history, which included a trip to the Final Four and the No. 1 overall seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Auburn fell to SEC foe Florida in the national semifinals, which marked the final game that the elder Pearl was on the sidelines.

After Pearl’s sudden retirement, his son, Steven Pearl, was promoted to Auburn’s head coach. The Tigers missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021 in Pearl’s first season in charge, but Auburn did win the 2026 NIT in Indianapolis after defeating Tulsa.

Who could Oregon target this spring?

With Stubblefield taking over as interim coach this season, Oregon will have several months to elevate the program before deciding what’s next. Stubblefield does have head-coaching experience at the high-major level, but his tenure at DePaul ended poorly, with twice as many losses as wins.

Names to keep an eye on this spring, who Oregon could take a look at this upcoming coaching cycle: Josh Schertz (Saint Louis), Eric Olen (New Mexico), Bryce Drew (Grand Canyon), and Leon Rice (Boise State). Stubblefield could also garner attention to stay with Oregon if the Ducks perform well this season. However, the Ducks are projected to finish in the bottom half of a loaded Big Ten.

Altman by the numbers

Altman’s career year-by-year record.

1989–90Marshall15–13
1990–91Kansas State13–15
1991–92Kansas State16–14NIT 1992–93Kansas State19–11NCAA Tournament first round1993–94Kansas State20–14NIT 1994–95Creighton7–19
1995–96Creighton14–15
1996–97Creighton15–15
1997–98Creighton18–10NIT1998–99Creighton22–9NCAA Tournament second round1999–2000Creighton23–10NCAA Tournament first round2000–01Creighton24–8NCAA Tournament first round2001–02Creighton23–9NCAA Tournament second round2002–03Creighton29–5NCAA Tournament first round2003–04Creighton20–9NIT2004–05Creighton23–11NCAA Tournament first round2005–06Creighton20–10NIT2006–07Creighton22–11NCAA Tournament first round2007–08Creighton22–11NIT2008–09Creighton27–8NIT2009–10Creighton18–16CIT2010–11Oregon21–18CBI2011–12Oregon24–10NIT2012–13Oregon28–9NCAA Tournament Sweet 162013–14Oregon24–10NCAA Tournament second round2014–15Oregon26–10NCAA Tournament second round2015–16Oregon31–7NCAA Tournament Elite Eight2016–17Oregon33–6NCAA Tournament Final Four2017–18Oregon23–13NIT2018–19Oregon25–13NCAA Tournament Sweet 162019–20Oregon24–7NCAA Tournament cancelled2020–21Oregon21–7NCAA Tournament Sweet 162021–22Oregon20–15NIT2022–23Oregon21–15NIT2023–24Oregon24–12NCAA Tournament second round2024–25Oregon25–10NCAA Tournament second round2025–26Oregon12–20
TOTAL382-182