Dana Altman 101: What every Hog fan should know...

[Thermonuclearpig]

What conference is that? Missouri Valley or something? Ever hear of the SEC? WE just got rid of a no name lame mediocre no coaching fool, why would we want another in his place?  :razorback:

[Thermonuclearpig]

Nevermind, it looks like Dana for 500, Alex.

[pigsooiec5]

The fact he is at a mid major and won't do whats necessary to play the big boys, tells me all I need to know about his confidence in his program. It's no secret to build a top mid major you have to go on the road and beat the big boys in their house. Not only is this guy not beating them, he isn't even scheduling them, so he can continue to build his not so impressive streak of 20 cupcake win seasons.

That's one Division II team (Creighton won't play D-II schools for regular season) and five teams with RPI's of 192 or higher.

That game wasn't a regular season game.  It was an exhibition game.  Nice try, though.

[SidApollo]

What conference is that? Missouri Valley or something? Ever hear of the SEC? WE just got rid of a no name lame mediocre no coaching fool, why would we want another in his place?  :razorback:

Oh, yes, you're right. And Billy Donovan was such a household name before he won a NC at Florida. And Tubby Smith came from that national powerhouse, Tulsa, before he won a NC at Kentucky. And Mike Krzyzewski was such a big name before he took over at Duke. And look how long it took for Jim Boeheim to win a NC at Syracuse.

The point is, there are lots of great coaches at mid-sized schools. Yes, you made the mistake of hiring Stan Heath, who had been a head coach for one freakin year!! before he was hired at Arkansas. It's different running a program than it is being an assistant. Dana Altman has successfully run programs for 18 years at the Division I level. You wouldn't be hiring no fool...

[SemperFi]

Sounds like straight up facts to me....thanks SidApollo for the info. You're going to have a tough time tyring to convince anyone here that Dana Altman is the man for the job or anyone for that matter. They all have a favorite and no matter who gets the job people are going to be pissed that their boy didn't get an offer. The last guy that came from Creighton laid the foundation to what is Razorback basketball, so I'll welcome him.

[SidApollo]

That game wasn't a regular season game.  It was an exhibition game.  Nice try, though.

Oops, you're right. I didn't see the (Exh.) listed after the (Pa.). Still, even without that, you can't call Creighton's non-conference schedule a bunch of cupcakes. And, if you try to say that the Hogs played Texas Tech, Texas, Missouri, and West Virginia, I'll argue that those are schools who won't even listen if Creighton tries to schedule them. Do some research, schools in the Missouri Valley have a hard time scheduling OOC home games.

[cardinalhawg]

you dont fire coach heath to settle for Altman.

If we ended up with DA, that would mean firing heath would be  a mistake

did we fire stan just to hire a "big name?" Or did we fire him over job prefromance?

I wanted Heath to succeed, but personally I would as soon have Cyprien or Hiphser as the head coach instead of Heath.  I am not saying that I would want either of those two as the head coach, but I would much rather have Altman than Heath.

Altman has put together a number of good seasons as head coach, which is far better than Heath has done with the exception of Heath's only year at Kent State.  Altman does not excite me because he is not as highly esteemed and recognized, but I would give the man a chance.  I just don't understand those who say they are through with Hog basketball if he is hired.  He may not be the name that draws a lot of fans early on, but if he wins the fans will come.  I figure just having a new coach will help attendance, at the very least, in the short term.

[Porkem]

Sid...nice post...good research...and I appreciate your desire to educate us on Altman.  But...he will NOT EXCITE OUR FAN BASE...that is certain.  Can he coach?  Yes, I believe he can.  Can he win in the SEC?  Perhaps.  At least more than Heath.  But enough to satisfy Hog fans? Doubtful.  He's too much of a risk to hire. We need to go with a bigger name.  Pure and simple.

[Bubba_Hog]

Nice job of spin but it's come too late, somebody already posted his notable wins and who he lost to over the last 3 years and it was less than impressive to say the least. His only noteworthy win in the last 3 years was over a 24th ranked Xavier this year. This guy failed at his attempt to make it in the big leagues once already, we don't need to be his next failed attempt, end of story.

I saw that post. Think about this for a second. If you're at a place like Creighton, you can't get schools from the big conferences to play you. They won't. They load up on cupcakes in the non-conference, because their conference races are so tough. And, especially with Creighton drawing 17,500+ for big games in Omaha, bigger schools won't play there. And Altman pretty much insists that any bigger school they play does a home and home with them. He wouldn't go to Arkansas for a guarantee game, and he won't do a 2 for 1. So, that's why there are very few marquee opponents on the schedule. But Creighton (and the Missouri Valley) does try to schedule only games against Top 100 RPI teams, so that's why their RPI is so high.

I think you have to look back at his tenure at Kansas State to see that he can win big games against highly-ranked teams. He led the Wildcats to wins against Kansas in back-to-back seasons, and beat the Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse when they were ranked #1 in 1993-94. He can coach in big games and against any opponent.

Imagine that.  Wow, upsets over in state rivals never happen.  So he must be the reason why right?  Not saying that he is a bad coach, but this happens all the time in college sports.  That is why Arkansas never will schedule a game with ASU or UALR.  You never want to start an in state rivalry because it can hurt your program when some scrub school plays like they have never played before to beat you.  You can't make a decision for a coach claiming he can beat top schools and then give an instance of an instate rivalry 14 years ago and say that this man is qualified for a coaching job based on that alone. 

[SidApollo]

Here's info about Dana Altman...

[BigDeal]

Good read. In this case, he could be considered a grand slam

[Biggus Piggus]

It is staggering that some of you guys would rather maintain your hate than let somebody post something accurate.

Frank you all.

[Smokinhog]

Now now...calm down.  I think the naysayers are just saying he didn't do well at K-State--he failed to put folks in the seats there, and as far as Omaha, there is no  basketball competition in a pretty large population base, so not surprising if you win at your LEVEL (MVC) you can get attendance.  The main point is this hire is a yawner in the SEC, and we will have to WAIT and see if he can actually recruit and coach at a Div 1 Major conference school NOW, as opposed to his firing at K-State previously. 

[BCShogs]

Dana who?  Men are not named Dana.

I'm past through of glorified mid-major rejects.  No Altman.

Eddie,

Didn't you come from Creighton. Sober up before you make statements like that.

[ColumbianHog]

From what I've read so far it looks like we're getting an experienced coach.  He's been to the Dance several times with a mid-major team.  He's even won a few games. 

Supposedly he's a decent recruiter and should be able to get some talent into Arkansas.  I hope he keeps/hires some assistants to help him make in-roads into the South.

He plays a pressing/trapping style of defense that should suit us as a fan base.

I'm looking forward to seeing how he does with a team full of seniors next season.  Then I'll look forward to seeing what kind of recruits he can bring in.  Coach Heath is a very good recruiter so I hope Dana Altman can do as good of a job as Coach Heath did, recruiting-wise.

I hope he has thick-skin...he'll need it around here.

[Dugann]

this hire so foooked up........ just when u thought we could not go no lower..... i need a damn beer.

[joeyself]

I appreciate the opening post here; told me a few things I didn't know.  It's not enough for me to think we didn't push the panic button and settle for less than the best man for this job.  Then again, why would a top coach take a position without knowing who the AD is going to be in 9 months?  Or for that matter, knowing who it WILL be for the rest of the year?

The good news, if there is any, is that the new AD won't have the built-in affection a person has for one of his hires.  If an AD hires a man and he doesn't work out, the AD has to admit he's made a mistake.   If DA isn't living up to expectations, the new guy will have less problem firing him and getting someone here that will.

I wish Altman nothing but success.  I wouldn't bet on it, but I'm pulling for it.

JcS

[hawkeyefan17]

"Iowa wants him right now"

Apparently Gary Barta (Iowa athletic director) didn't want him. Altman was interested in the Iowa job but he wasn't shown enough love from Iowa. If Altman would have been hired by Iowa the Iowa fanbase as a whole would have been very upset, (some did want him though), I am sure Barta understood that.

Altman is a weird fit for Arkansas but it just might work.

However, if you are going to hire Altman, you might as well have kept Heath.

[hawgsav1]

well, I will cheer for Altman as long as he's the coach.  however, there were other coaches we could have gone for. 

[The Hawg Marshal]

I'm still speechless.

[otishog]

Mitch Richmond was in the NBA two years before Altman was at KSU.

[DeltaBoy]

Fire Dana!

Quit being a smart 6 !

[joeyself]

. . . his style of basketball will not be what it was at Creighton, especially the last two years with all the injuries the Bluejays have had. You can't look simply at last year's per game average points as an indicator of the type of system he utilizes...

Well, to be honest, DA is not going to be able to do too much in the way of uptempo next year anyway.  Even if Beverley and Walsh stay, since McCurdy is gone (or at least we assume he won't try to stay now), we're down to three guards.   I figure you need at least four guards to pull off a pressure style of defense, with two of the guards getting 28 minutes each and the other two weighing in for 12 minutes.   

I guess if you consider Weems a guard--and I don't--then there are four on campus now. 

Maybe DA will have time to pick up a Juco player or two to fill out the roster.

JcS

[krack1925]

That's the difficulty at this point. I can't think of a single mid-major coach that we could hire that wouldn't make Hog fans go "bleh."  If we go that route, our new coach will have one heckuva sales job on his hands. 

Not true.... all it will take is us going to the tourny next year and winning a game... That is all it will take....

[Hog Fan from Camden]

fire dana before he is our coach yep 68 points a game going fill up the seats.......WTH is he thinking.

So, Dugann, you really think that Dana Altman's pressing style, which creates lots of transition baskets, would only average 68 ppg with the type of kids he could attract to Arkansas? What does that say about Fayetteville, or the Arkansas program?

He'll get batter recruits there, and his style of basketball will not be what it was at Creighton, especially the last two years with all the injuries the Bluejays have had. You can't look simply at last year's per game average points as an indicator of the type of system he utilizes...

I wonder what his points per game average was last year or the year before?

[SidApollo]

Mitch Richmond was in the NBA two years before Altman was at KSU.

Mitch Richmond played for Altman at Moberly Junior College, then followed Altman to Kansas State when Altman was hired as an assistant there...

[no one]

Sounds like straight up facts to me....thanks SidApollo for the info. You're going to have a tough time tyring to convince anyone here that Dana Altman is the man for the job or anyone for that matter. They all have a favorite and no matter who gets the job people are going to be pissed that their boy didn't get an offer. The last guy that came from Creighton laid the foundation to what is Razorback basketball, so I'll welcome him.

What foundation, we're right back there. 

[Hogustus Caesar]

1. Frank's hires have worked out fine. Eddie Sutton, Nolan Richardson(the early years), Lou Holtz and Ken Hatfield. Danny Ford needed some time for transition to the SEC and stated we needed facilities to compete which we improved upon. Jack Crowe maybe not.
2. Altman needs to be given a chance. He must know what he is facing with the fans here.
Please lets give him a chance. Besides that this is most likely Frank's last hire as AD, I am sure that he is thinking about that as well.

[hawaiianhogster]

When 5pm comes around we'll know for sure who the coach will be.

[LRHAWG09]

When 5pm comes around we'll know for sure who the coach will be.

Im pretty sure we know dude.  Dont let go of that rope.

[jbcarol]

Thanks for the effort on letting us know about Altman.  Are you from up there?

You're welcome. And I don't want Altman to leave Creighton. I'm just sick of people bashing him without knowing who they're bashing.

Actually, I live in the Twin Cities right now, but I lived in Omaha for four years and was a season-ticket holder for Creighton games.

I thought you were Coach Altman   When you say Twin Cities the differentiation is important for folks on this board.  Springdale or Fayetteville?

I like the description of the style of play.  Give Coach a chance.

[joeyself]

1. Frank's hires have worked out fine. Eddie Sutton, Nolan Richardson(the early years), Lou Holtz and Ken Hatfield. Danny Ford needed some time for transition to the SEC and stated we needed facilities to compete which we improved upon. Jack Crowe maybe not.

Dave Van Horn would be a good one, too, and I assume that was not done by committee.

2. Altman needs to be given a chance. He must know what he is facing with the fans here.
Please lets give him a chance. Besides that this is most likely Frank's last hire as AD, I am sure that he is thinking about that as well.

See, that's the thing--I'm not convinced JFB WAS thinking at all.

JcS

[jbcarol]

Wikipedia, the on-line Encyclopedia shows only one SEC coaching vacancy -- Kentucky   I was hoping it was Florida.

I did not know that Coach Altman was born in Crete. 

[cmiller01]

Crete, Nebraska, that is.

[joeyself]

I wonder how DA would have handled the Darien Townes incident last year.  I know the reports were that Heath sent him to the locker room, but he then played the next game as if nothing had happened.  I thought that was a mistake on Heath's part, but gave him the benefit of the doubt of knowing (a) more about his team in general and (b) Townes in particular than I did.

JcS

[jbcarol]

Crete, Nebraska, that is.

Grete first post.  How do they pronounce "Crete" in Nebraska.

[TennesseeRaz]

Nice opening post, Sid, but I was at KSU for Altman's entire tenure.  Bramlage Collesium was generally dead, and KSU never had the athletes to compete with the big boys in the Big 8 and 12.  I'm not saying he can coach, but if Altman's not grown some charisma and recruiting moxie, we're in big trouble.

[KSHogg]

I keep hearing everyone say that we can't get certain coaches because they don't know who the AD will be. someone please explain why that has anything to do with it when someone is offering 2 mil for a job?

[justmakeit2thebcs]

Nice job of spin but it's come too late, somebody already posted his notable wins and who he lost to over the last 3 years and it was less than impressive to say the least. His only noteworthy win in the last 3 years was over a 24th ranked Xavier this year. This guy failed at his attempt to make it in the big leagues once already, we don't need to be his next failed attempt, end of story.

idiot....southern illinois was a bigger win than xavier, at least do the research.  Failure?. coach of the year in the Big 12 at the age of 34?....maybe KSU made the mistake.

[hillhog]

Let's give Altman a chance. Get off his back before he has his first practice session!!

[OKCHogFan]

After just a little research i don't feel like we fell short... good get!!