Oregon basketball got hit with a jolt on Wednesday afternoon, and the timing made it even more stunning. With the season just around the corner and preseason exhibition play set to begin in just over a week, Dana Altman announced he is retiring after 16 seasons at the helm.
After 16 seasons and 382 wins at Oregon, head coach Dana Altman has announced his retirement.
Tony Stubblefield has been named interim head coach for the 2026-27 season.
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- Oregon Men's Basketball (@OregonMBB) October 7, 2026
Altman’s departure lands as a major surprise because Oregon has been in offseason workouts and Altman had just spoken to the media. Instead, the Ducks are now left to move forward without the coach who has guided the program for the last 16 years.
Altman’s Oregon résumé is loaded. He exits with a 382-182 record overall and a 185-114 mark in conference play across the Pac 12 and Big Ten. During his run, the Ducks reached the Final Four in 2017 and captured four Pac 12 tournament titles along with four regular-season league championships.
For a coach who had become a fixture in Eugene, the consistency stood out most. Since arriving in 2010, Altman won 20 or more games every season until last year’s team. Even with the uncertainty that had occasionally surrounded his future, he kept returning to the sideline and kept the program steady.
The retirement also arrives after what was Altman’s worst season at Oregon, which had already made this offseason an interesting one. He and his staff worked the Transfer Portal hard and rebuilt the roster, only for the program to now turn the page in unexpected fashion. For the first time in 16 years, Oregon basketball will open a season without Altman in charge.
Later Wednesday night, Altman is expected to address the media and explain his decision.
The Ducks will now hand the program to Tony Stubblefield, who will serve as interim head coach. Stubblefield, the former DePaul head coach and current Oregon assistant, was DePaul’s head coach from 2021 through the end of the 2024 season, finishing with a 28-54 record and a 9-38 mark in league play.
The timing of Altman’s retirement leaves Oregon with little choice but to go the interim route. There simply isn’t enough time to launch a full search before the season starts. That also gives Stubblefield a chance to make his case for the job while the Ducks try to keep the roster intact.
One immediate wrinkle works in Oregon’s favor: by elevating Stubblefield, the transfer portal will stay closed for 31 days instead of 5 days. With the season so close, that could help the Ducks avoid having the roster picked apart.
Looking ahead, the bigger question will be what Oregon is willing to invest in the program once next offseason arrives. That will shape both the ceiling for the roster and the level of coach the Ducks can pursue. NIL and revenue sharing will matter in any search, and if Oregon spends at a level comparable to most Big Ten programs, it should be able to draw a notable head coach.
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