Dana Altman Leading the Ducks to a Bright Future

Coach Altman is turning around
the basketball program in Eugene.

Dana Altman has turned around the basketball fortunes of the University of Oregon by stringing together a few tough wins in the Pac-10 conference.  At the beginning of conference play the Ducks went through a tough patch by losing six straight.  After their six game losing streak they have won six out of their last nine.  They now look poised to make a run in the Pac-10 tournament. The Ducks have three of their last 5 games at home against the bay area schools and their rival the Beavers.

The current roster is stacked with juniors so regardless what happens at the end of this season the Ducks will be in position to have a great season next year, in their first full season in Matthew Knight Arena.  They will be lead by senior to be Garret Sim and junior to be E.J. Singler, who has come-on under Altman to be a consistent contributer for the Ducks.

The real story is Altman's coaching style, as he has been called a dark-horse candidate for coach of the year honors.  He has seemingly turned around the culture in Eugene and is putting a competitive team on the floor every night, something that has not been the case in the years after their elite-eight fun four years ago.

Altman has also made some big strides in the recruiting world.  His top recruit in 2011 is Jabari Brown, the 6'3 shooting guard out of Oakland Highschool.  He is a great shooter with deep deep range, and shoot fit nicely in Dana's system.  He is also adding three more recruits who may not have an immediate impact but have the potential to grow.  Bruce Barron is a big, tough, point guard who can get into the lane and finish with acrobatic plays around the rim.  Brett Kingma is another shooting guard with a great shot with great mechanics.  They have also added some height with 6'9 power forward Austin Kuemper who is a tough rebounder and has a solid shot from 15 feet and in.

It may take a few more years to turn around Duck basketball, but it seems as though Dana Altman has taken huge strides in his first season as the Duck's head coach.   Go Ducks!