He won four Coach-of-the-Year awards from three different conferences in a span of 13 seasons, including back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference coaching honors while he was at the Omaha, Neb., school in 2001 and 2002. Altman was a finalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year Award and was named the NABC District 12 and USBWA District VI Coach of the Year following the 2002-03 campaign.
Altman was a two-year letterwinner for the Greyhounds after transferring from Southeast Community College in Fairbury, Nebraska, before graduating magna cum laude with a degree in business administration in 1980. As a guard, Altman played two years under head coach Larry Riley. In his two years in the Green and Silver, the Wilber, Neb., native helped the Greyhounds to 16 wins.
After his playing career at Eastern, Altman began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Western State in Colorado from 1980-82. As a first-time head coach at Moberly Junior College in Missouri, the ENMU graduate led the team to an impressive 94-18 record and a pair of top-10 finishes along with two Region 16 Coach of the Year awards in 1984-85 and 1985-86.
The former Greyhound made the jump to NCAA Division I in 1989, spending a season at Marshall before moving on to Kansas State. Following his one-year stint with the Thundering Herd, Altman accepted the job at KSU and led the Wildcats to a 68-54 record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament during his four-year tenure.
Creighton participated in seven NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournaments and five National Invitation Tournaments under Altman, advancing to the second round of the NCAA championships in both the 1998-99 and 2001-02 seasons. He led the school to a MVC regular-season title in 2000-01 – its first in 10 years. The Bluejays posted a school-record 29 wins in 2002-03, finishing the season 15th in the Associated Press poll and 23rd in the coaches’ voting.
Altman finished his career at Creighton ranking third all-time on the MVC list of all-time wins (327), trailing only Basketball Hall of Fame coaches Henry Iba (486) and Eddie Hickey (337). In 2007, he was one of 10 coaches named as part of the MVC’s All-Centennial Team. His teams claimed shares of three regular-season Missouri Valley Conference championships (including the 2008-09 crown) and six conference post-season tournament titles.
Student-athletes under his direction at CU earned six All-America honors on the court and four Academic All-America laurels in the classroom. Three players he coached at Creighton – Kyle Korver, Rodney Buford and Anthony Tolliver – have played in the NBA.
Along the way, Creighton established school records for most victories in a two-year (52), three-year (76) and four-year span (99). From 1998-99 through 2008-09, Creighton was one of just six schools to win 20 or more games each of those seasons, an elite list that also included Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas and Syracuse.
Altman compiled a 68-54 record in four seasons (1990-94) at Kansas State. During that time, Altman led the Wildcats to three straight postseason tourneys and was named the Big Eight Conference Coach of the Year after leading KSU to a 19-11 record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1993.
Since becoming the Ducks’ head coach, Altman has won three Pac-12 Coach of the Year awards and led Oregon to a 33-5 record this season. He has helped the Ducks to seven-consecutive 20-win seasons and five-striaght trips to the NCAA Tournament. Oregon is making just its second appearance in the Final Four and first since the inaugural postseason tournament in 1939.
“I am so excited for Coach Altman and his Oregon Ducks’ incredible season,” ENMU Head Coach Tres Segler said. “I knew when I was hired here at Eastern that I would be a part of a great basketball history and tradition. Coach Altman is adding his legacy to the highest levels of collegiate basketball and we’re so incredibly proud to call him a Greyhound.”
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-Eastern New Mexico University-
Men’s Basketball
Will Edwards
