Dana Altman talks 5-star freshmen, jump to Big Ten, and new-look Ducks heading into 2023 season
It’s been quite a while since we’ve gotten the opportunity to last speak to Oregon Ducks men’s basketball coach Dana Altman. In fact, I think the last time I was in a room with him was the night that he went on a rant about the program, the fans, and the outlook of things going forward, making national headlines in the sport.
It’s safe to say that a lot of things have happened from then until now.
For starters, the Ducks will now be playing in a new conference starting a year from now after the University of Oregon jumped from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten. That seems like pretty major news that would be worth getting Altman’s opinion on.
After that, we have also been gifted a pretty new-look roster in Eugene, which features a few holdovers from last year — N’Faly Dante, Nate Bittle, Keeshawn Barthelemy, and Jermaine Couisnard, among others — but boasts a pair of 5-star freshmen with another highly-rated 4-star player who made up the No. 8 ranked 2023 recruiting class for the Ducks.
There’s another good topic of conversation.
With those new additions, a big influx of incoming transfers, and every other storyline that has built up over the offseason, it’s safe to say that there was no shortage of things to discuss with Altman in his first media availability on Thursday afternoon.
Here are Altman’s most notable quotes from that interview:
Offseason Recap
Question: How do you feel after the offseason and about all of the moves that you guys have made personnel-wise?
Altman: “It’s been up and down, you know it’s a lot of change, with a lot of new players, seven new players, seven new, five guys returning. So, you know, a lot of turnover and some turnover with our staff. So then a lot of change. The portal has changed things. Everybody’s talked about that. And NIL, and they definitely have changed the landscape and you know, changed the continuity of ball teams. But it’s been a good summer. We’ve had some nagging injuries, you know, Mookie hurt his ankle in the Iverson All-Star game and that’s been a problem for him. Had some guys in and out of workouts. Started practice last Thursday, so we’ve had four practices. Get back at it today. So hopefully we just keep making progress.”
Team Identity
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Question: What do you feel like the identity of this team is going forward?
Altman: “Once we get Dante back on floor, he’s been out a while here. But once we get him back, he’s an all-conference player, he got 13 and almost nine a game last year and double-teamed every time he caught it. So he’s definitely someone we can build around. Nate, you know, kind of came on strong late. Jermaine only played half the season but half the season that he played, did a good job. He missed a bunch of games with his plantar fasciitis but he’s been looking really good. Brennan missed a lot of games. One common theme everybody missed a lot of games but he’s been healthy. So those are five returners and they do know what we’re doing and will give us that experience. So I’m excited about those five guys and then you know, the new guys, we’ve got some experienced guys and then we got three freshmen. So I think it’s a good mix. And I think our depth is pretty good. Once we get everybody healthy and move in the same direction, I think our depth is going to be pretty good. So I like the guys, I like working with them. And we just got a lot of work ahead of us.”
Freshmen Impressions
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Question: What have your impressions of the three freshmen been thus far?
Altman: “Well, Mookie hasn’t practiced because of the ankle. Jackson’s, you know, been there every day, he’s been competing very hard. Really just got a good quick burst. Just picking up the game, picking up the way we want to play it. He’s working really hard. He’s really coachable. So he’s done a great job. KJ has been in and out of practice with some just snagging things, nothing serious. You know, his lane skill level’s pretty good. He needs to get stronger like most freshmen do. So those two you know we have been pretty good.”
Injury Timelines
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Question: What are the injury timelines like for Mookie and Dante to return?
Altman: “Dante may be another week or so, but Mookie will probably be sometime in November.”
Three-Point Shooting
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Question: How do you feel you’ve addressed the three-point shooting problems so far this offseason?
Altman: “Well, I think first of all I know this is an excuse but like, Jermaine is a good three-point shooter. You know what, he missed half a season. But he’s really worked hard at it. Brennan, we brought here so he could be a three-point shooter. He was out most of the year. So I think those two guys from last year’s ball team can give us a little look. Keeshawn shot it really well. He missed a big chunk this season, but he’s been shooting really well. So I think the returners can shoot, and then as far as your question and addressing the need, Jadrian Tracy was a good three-point shooter, you know in junior college, so we’re hoping that’ll translate. Mario (Oquendo) didn’t shoot it particularly well, he took some off-balance ones that I think we’re trying to get out of his shot selection and get more on balance. The ball doesn’t look too bad coming out of his hands. Jesse’s a good three-point shooter. So you know, we got some guys. Jackson was a good high school three-point shooter, it takes a while to make the adjustments, it’s a little further back and the defense is a little bit bigger so it’ll take a while to adjust. But I think he can shoot.”
Nate Bittle
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Question: What type of progress has Nate Bittle made this offseason?
Altman: “Well, you know, we need him to keep getting stronger, which he’s addressed. You know, he’s a little bigger, a little stronger. Still, he’s got to keep eating. He’s been in the gym a lot more this spring and the summer, which is always encouraging for a coaching staff to see guys in the gym working so I think he’s done a much better job there. And he’s just older. He’s maturing. Physically, he’s maturing as a ballplayer. So, we hope you’ll take the next step, but he’s put himself in a position to do that by working pretty hard this summer.
Leadership
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Question: Without Will Richardson, you lose one of your main leaders from last years team. Have you seen anyone step up in that role so far?
Altman: “Dante came back for a reason. You know, and the guys respect Dante. They like him, you know, so I think he’s someone that the guys will follow. You know, usually, it’s a little easier if the guy’s got the ball in his hands a little bit to lead. You know, Jermaine’s work ethic — he’s not a real vocal guy — but his work ethic has been pretty good. So, you know, I think those two guys or two leading scorers last year are back. And so they’ve got a lot of college experience. So those two things help their work ethics. So that helps. So I think naturally those two guys will take some of the leadership void. But I’d rather see it by group. You know, it’s tough if you’ve got to do it every day by yourself. It really is. You got to be the only guy bringing energy and being vocal every day. It’s often difficult. It’s much better if there’s a group of guys, you know, that can pick each other up. You’re not going to have a good day every day. So I do think we have some groups, especially the five guys returning and some of our new guys are experienced so it doesn’t have to be one or two guys. It can be a group thing. And I think we have some guys who are capable of doing that and leadership is so important when you face adversity.”
End of the Pac-12
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Question: What are your thoughts on the end of the Pac-12 and moving to the Big Ten next year?
Altman: “I’m a little disappointed you know, I love the conference. You know, I liked the travel I liked the rivalries and I liked the conference. You know, change is always difficult. We have some big changes coming up. But it’s also exciting at the same time. You know, I’m not sure about taking some of those long trips in January, February, and March. You know, we haven’t had one weather delay in 13 years. We haven’t had one weather delay, I don’t think we’re gonna get away with that in the future. But you know, I’m sad to see the conference end, I really am. I liked the Pac-12. You’re part of something for 13 years you know, you’re going to miss going places every year. But at the same time, the Big Ten is exciting. You know, it’s exciting to go play those teams. And so those would be big challenges for us and the travel will be different. So it will take some time to get used to that. But you know, it’s a change and we’ll work our way through it. But I don’t like you know, the Pac-12 closing up shop. I wish we could have kept it together. It didn’t work out. So now we have a new opportunity and a new challenge and an exciting challenge to move to the Big Ten.”
Oregon State Matchup
Question: What are your thoughts on continuing to play the game vs. Oregon State each year?
Altman: “Wayne and I will talk and see what works out best for us. But no, I think we should play Oregon State. It’ll be a big game for us. November, December, whenever we decide to play it. But I don’t have any plans on not playing them. I hope Wayne feels the same way. We really haven’t directly talked about it. But I sure hope that you know we’ll play him either November or December each year and go from there.”
