QuickTake:

Coming into his 16th season with the Oregon Ducks, Dana Altman, 67, says he’s motivated and still having fun. The biggest question isn’t when will he retire — it’s how far can his Ducks go this March?

Welcome to the beginning of Lookout Eugene-Springfield’s University of Oregon basketball coverage. Today we’ll preview the Oregon men, who are coming off consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and return a core of stars ready to take the Ducks on a deeper run.

Head coach: Dana Altman, 16th season (370-162 record at Oregon)
Last season record: 25-10, 12-8 Big Ten
Postseason: Eliminated by No. 4-seed Arizona in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32

Out with the old:

TJ Bamba, Keeshawn Barthelemy, Ra’Heim Moss, Jadrian Tracy, Supreme Cook, Brandon Angel, Mookie Cook

In with the new:

  • Takai Simpkins: 6-5, 190, senior, guard: 16.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game at Elon
  • Sean Stewart: 6-9, 225, junior, forward: 5.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game at Ohio State
  • Devon Pryor: 6-7, 190, junior, forward: 3.2 points and 2.0 rebounds per game at Texas
  • Efe Vatan: 6-10, 230, redshirt freshman, forward: 16.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game at Galatasaray Ekmas Instanbul
  • Ege Demir: 6-11, 275, junior, center: 5.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game at Darüssafaka Lassa
  • Wei Linn: 6-4, 190, sophomore, guard: 21.0 points, 5.0 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game at Nanjing Monkey Kings
  • JJ Frakes: 6-5, 185, freshman, guard: Three-star recruit from Berrien Spring, Michigan

The preview

Two things can be true for Dana Altman.

The first is one that Altman is still growing into: He’s getting old.

Altman is 67. He’s starting his 16th season coaching the Ducks, his 46th year coaching overall and has entered the part of his career when many of his peers are choosing the golf course over the hardwood. Mike Krzyzewski (75 at retirement), Roy Williams (70), Jay Wright (60), Jim Boeheim (78), Lon Kruger (68), Jim Calhoun (78) and Fran Dunphy (76) have each hung up the whistle since 2021. Altman is harboring more career wins (780) than Bruce Pearl (706), Wright (642), Dunphy (625) and his mentor, Kruger (674).

Altman’s resume is so long, and covers so much ground, that a part of every season from now until he decides to step away will come with some form of retirement question. His latest came from ESPN’s Jeff Borzello at Big Ten media day.

“I don’t know how it got started,” Altman said. “I guess because I’m old. I want to coach as long as I’m healthy and feel like I can do a good job at Oregon and Oregon wants me. I’ve never felt like I’m ready to quit yet.”

That brings forth the second truth: The Oregon coach may just be getting his second wind.

Yes, across football and basketball, coaches are getting younger as the added complications of NIL and the transfer portal have made jobs more taxing than ever. Last year’s NCAA champion? Florida, coached by 40-year-old Todd Golden. The highest-paid coach on Altman’s own campus? The 39-year-old Dan Lanning.

And it wasn’t too long ago that the concept of Oregon basketball going younger didn’t seem outlandish. After reaching the Sweet 16 for the fifth time with the Ducks in 2021, Altman’s Ducks failed to reach the NCAA Tournament the next two seasons, bowing out early in the NIT as crowds dwindled at Matthew Knight Arena. Altman was pushing his mid-60s, his hall-of-fame resume was already padded with a Final Four run and four Pac-12 Conference titles.

Maybe the fire wasn’t there anymore.

“Whoever is saying that is pure speculation,” Altman said on March 5, 2024, with Oregon sitting 19-10 overall and looking well on its way to missing the NCAA Tournament for a third consecutive year. “I’m not going anywhere — unless the school tells me I’m not here — but no, I’m not retiring that’s for sure.”

And he’s since backed it up. That team caught fire to win the final Pac-12 Tournament to earn its bid into March Madness.

The Ducks followed it up last year with a 25-10 record, a second straight trip to the Big Dance and Altman immediately shifting the focus to the next season after losing to Arizona in the Round of 32.

“I hope they want to come back, and I hope they want to work their tails off so that we get better,” Altman said of his roster. “We’ll have those conversations and hopefully they go our way, and if not, then we’ll find a group that wants to be at Oregon and wants to compete in the Big Ten and wants to try to go a little further in the NCAA Tournament.”

The core came back. The Ducks return junior guard Jackson Shelstad and senior center Nate Bittle, a pair of third-team All-Big Ten selections in 2024-25. One or the other led the Ducks in scoring in 19 of Oregon’s 36 games last season.

“I think this could be really fun,” Bittle told Lookout after withdrawing from the NBA Draft during the summer and announcing his return for a final season at Oregon. “We’re going to take full advantage of everything.”

Nate Bittle and Kwame Evans make up one of the most experience front courts in the Big Ten. (Darby Winter photo) Credit: Darby Winter

In Altman’s time at Oregon, the coach has had the most success when he has a roster of veteran players who know his system and have bought into his “simple plays” philosophy. He has that with those two, and also with the return of junior forward KJ Evans, a one-time starter who played the best basketball of his career down the stretch last season coming off the bench and should transition back into the starting lineup.

The Ducks used the portal and international recruiting to bring in Simpkins, Stewart, Pryor, Vatan, Demir, Linn and Frakes. Dedrick Lindsay is healthy. Jamari Phillips has a year of experience. Frakes arrives as a freshman with upside.

They’re seemingly back to the Altman standard, where the question at the start of the year isn’t whether the Ducks will make the NCAA Tournament, but how far they can go once they get there.

But of course, there’s work to be done. Oregon lost reliable contributors such as Bamba, Barthelemy, Tracy, Supreme Cook and Angel. And then there’s Shelstad, who broke his hand in practice and could miss the start of the season.

“I don’t think it’ll affect (Shelstad) much, but it’ll slow down our progress as a team,” Altman said. “I was really hoping that Jackson could really bring the team along here early.”

So, there’s a challenge there. And that’s what keeps Altman coming back to the court.

“I love coaching. I love going to the gym,” he said. “Games are torture, but practice is a lot of fun.”