SAllen golf

Dana Altman of Creighton was named head basketball coach at Oregon on April 25. At 51, he's not the young up-and-comer I was hoping for, but he is an accomplished coach.  In his 13 years at Creighton, Altman ranks third all-time on the coaching victories list in the 99-year history of the Missouri Valley Conference, trailing only Hall of Fame coaches Henry Iba and Eddie Hickey. His record in 16 seasons with the Creighton Bluejays is 327-176; his total record in 21 seasons as a Division I head coach is 409-243. He has had only three losing seasons in 21 years, and has led his teams to 16 post-season trips in 21 years -- including eight NCAA appearances, seven NITs, and one CIT.  The more I think about the hire of Dana Altman, the more I like it.

It was a simple, not splashy, hire, but a real solid choice.

Altman has long been regarded as a class act, and that's one area in which he will live up to the standard set by his predecessor, Ernie Kent.

His 18-16 record in 2009-10 ended a run of 11 consecutive 20-win seasons, and 12 consecutive trips to the NCAAs or NIT. If you take last season's slip, and the Arkansas blip off his resume, he's as hot as any coach in the country. It's widely known that Altman "backed out" of the Arkansas job in 2007 because the AD who hired him left, and there was reputedly a drug problem on the team. Some Razorback and Blue Jays fans never forgave him for that. Creighton also graduated two key players this year, so timing wise, this move makes a lot of sense for Altman.

At 51, hopefully he can settle down the Oregon team, stop the transferring, and do his magic at Matt Court. He knows how to win, has been to the NCAAs seven times, and six of his trips came at the mid-major level (one at K State). He has sent three players to the NBA from a mid-major, including Kyle Korver.

With Oregon's varied resources, hopefully Coach Altman will take our program a step beyond where Ernie took it.

Go Ducks !!

BTW - Oregon's softball, baseball and golf teams are kicking butt out there this Spring !!