Texas Basketball: 4 early dream head coaching candidates

Early dream coaching candidates No. 4: Dana Altman

A coach already mentioned in the Longhorns coaching search (and with good reason) is the Oregon Ducks longtime head coach Dana Altman. The Maryland native and one-time Coach of the Year and three-time PAC-12 Coach of the Year is leading the Ducks deep in the “Big Dance” to round out this season.

Oregon was the PAC-12 regular season title holders this season, and they have made it through to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament this year. The two big schools in Oregon as a whole this year are doing really well in the Big Dance.

Oregon has finished as a top 25 team in four of the last eight seasons. And they made it to the NCAA Tournament in all but one of those seasons with Altman at the helm as head coach. During his decade-long run as the Oregon head coach as a whole, he holds a record of 280-109 (.720 winning percentage).

He also has raked in four PAC-12 regular season titles and three additional PAC-12 Tournament crowns with the Ducks.

Prior to being Oregon’s head coach for the last decade, Altman was a head coach with the Marshall Thundering Herd, Creighton Blue Jays, and Kansas State Wildcats, dating all the way back to 1989. And that means that Altman is familiar with finding coaching success around this part of the country, as he consistently improved Kansas State and Creighton in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Altman would be a good and safe coaching hire for the Longhorns if they want to look his way, and he’s interested in leaving Eugene.