Longtime Men's Basketball Head Coach of Washington Huskies Rival Announces Retirement

The Washington Huskies men's basketball team, throughout its history in the Pac-8/10/12 and Big Ten, has gone toe-to-toe with the Oregon Ducks.

The two Pacific Northwest sides have been locked in a rivalry in both recruiting and on the court for decades. And the head coach who has led the Ducks for the better part of two decades in many of those battles is calling it a career.

It was announced Wednesday that Dana Altman, who has been head coach of Oregon since the 2010-11 season would be retiring.

Altman held a news conference Wednesday to go over his decision and what led to him announcing his retirement weeks before the regular season began.

"Tough day. I've had two tough decisions in my coaching career," Altman said in the news conference. "First one was leaving Creighton. I loved Creighton, I loved my job there. And this is the second one: leaving a place I love and a job I love. Last March, someone I truly respect, (Michigan State head coach) Tom Izzo, made a comment. Somebody asked him about retirement and he said 'The minute I don't feel good, the minute I don't feel like I'm giving my (athletic director), president and school every ounce of energy I have every day, or that energy drops, you don't have to worry about me being here.' And I had two weeks off in August, and I thought my energy would return. And it didn't. Some people I trust and truly respect told me to just delegate more and take it easier, back off a little bit. And I tried that for a couple weeks in September. And that's not me. It's not what I've done for 37 years."

With Altman at the helm, Oregon made it to nine NCAA tournament appearances, five Sweet 16 berths, made the Elite Eight twice and the Final Four once. He posted a 382-182 overall record as head coach of the Ducks and a 185-114 record against conference opponents, which includes two seasons in the Big Ten and 14 seasons in the Pac-12.

Many of Altman's wins in conference play came against the Huskies.

Washington has posted a 10-21 record against Oregon since Altman took over as head coach in the 2010-11 season.

In Altman's stead, Ducks assistant coach Tony Stubblefield will serve as interim head coach in the 2026-27 season. Stubblefield was hired to the Oregon staff ahead of the 2024-25 season.

Before getting hired by the Ducks, Stubblefield spent three years as the head coach of DePaul and posted a 28-54 overall record.