The news of Dana Altman's shocking retirement sent the Oregon Ducks through a loop on Wednesday morning, and his impact was felt beyond the hardwood. Dan Lanning has connected with Oregon's various coaches in different sports, including Altman, and the two have formed a connection since Lanning arrived in Eugene in 2021.
Now, with Altman stepping aside after a legendary college basketball coaching career, Lanning opened up on Altman's impact on him and Oregon athletics. Altman was one of the coaches who helped welcome Lanning to Eugene and served as "a great mentor" to the football coach.
Like Lanning, Altman rose from small beginnings, coaching lower levels of basketball and working at a junior college in Kansas before eventually leading Creighton
and Oregon to massive success, finishing his career with 792 wins.
“There are people that do things the right way. Dana Altman is a guy that does it the right way in every sense," Lanning said. "I mean, from the ground up, a guy that's coaching small ball, coaching Kansas JUCO ball, and becomes a Hall of Fame coach. And the way he did that is consistency. Consistency in his approach, the ability to be there and all in at all times. You know, the adaptability of the game. He talked about how the game's different now than it was when he first got into it, and things to be prepared for.”
One of the Best To Ever Do It! https://t.co/XkZXFOJ6NH
— Dan Lanning (@CoachDanLanning) October 7, 2026
The game in college athletics has changed greatly in recent years with the rise of NIL. A large portion of Oregon's resources are poured into the football program, and as the Ducks' basketball roster evaporated into the transfer portal, Altman led the charge to refill the roster with transfers from all over the country.
Stepping aside just weeks before the season, Altman will be able to spend more time with his family moving forward. But his Hall of Fame-worthy career won't be forgotten soon in Eugene, and Lanning eyes Altman as a role model, not only as a coach, but as a family man.
"I just always have a lot of admiration for the way he treated my family and the way I saw him interact with his," Lanning said of Altman. "It’s just something that certainly sticks out to me because as great of a coach as he is, he’s an unbelievable human. Sometimes that gets lost in this. You know, everybody looks at wins and losses, and he's got more wins than anybody. There's a reason he's a Hall of Famer. But he's a great human; everybody that he impacted, and I know, like in my time, the impact he had on me. So certainly grateful for that."
Lanning and Altman share similar values that extend far beyond the field of competition, and it has led to many successful seasons and careers for Ducks in the past and present. As Oregon's basketball team prepares to begin a new season under interim coach Tony Stubblefield, a longtime assistant of Altman, Lanning can carry the torch of the Ducks' infamous leader on the hardwood, and hopefully be the first to welcome whoever the Ducks hire for the role long-term after the 2026-27 season.
In 16 seasons at Oregon, Altman finished his career with the Ducks with 382 wins, five Sweet Sixteen appearances, two Elite Eights, and one Final Four appearance. He leaves as Oregon's winningest coach in program history.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: 'A great mentor;' Dan Lanning opens up on Dana Altman's retirement
