Oregon's Dana Altman rips fans for lack of support at NIT game: 'I’ll go coach junior college ball again'

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The 2022-23 season for the Oregon men’s basketball team came to a close on Tuesday night as the Ducks fell to Wisconsin 61-58 in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).

Oregon head coach Dana Altman had more complaints about the lack of support from Ducks fans than anything else and expressed it in the postgame press conference. Oregon was at home in Eugene for the game while the Badgers had to travel.

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Head coach Dana Altman of the Ducks watches from the sideline during the UCLA Bruins game at Matthew Knight Arena on Feb. 11, 2023, in Eugene, Oregon. (Soobum Im/Getty Images)

"You see the commitment that Wisconsin makes, they got their cheerleaders, their band. And we make a commitment – don’t get me wrong here. You can just see how important it is. It was important to them. It was important to me," Altman said, via The Oregonian. "We should’ve had more people here tonight, alright? These guys play hard, 3,300 people is not good enough. If it’s me, then get rid of me. If you need somebody else to be a promoter, do something, but 3,300 people is embarrassing. It really is."

The paper noted that Oregon’s three NIT games drew some of the lowest crowd numbers since the Matthew Knight Arena opened in January 2011. The Ducks reportedly drew about 5,937 people per home game this season, down more than 1,000 from last season.

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Head coach Dana Altman of the Oregon Ducks watches the UCLA Bruins game at Matthew Knight Arena on Feb. 11, 2023 in Eugene. (Soobum Im/Getty Images)

"If it’s me, then make the change," Altman added. "Make the change. Somebody will hire me – I’ll go coach junior college ball again. I love junior college ball; those guys are dogs. They want to be in the gym all the time. I love coaching. But 3,300 people? For Wisconsin? I was disappointed. I appreciate the people who came – the 3,300 people who did come, great. I sure appreciate it. The people who have stuck with us."

It’s not as though the men’s college basketball program hasn’t been exciting over the last few years.

Altman has won at least 20 games as Oregon’s head coach since he took the job at the start of the 2010-11 season. The team has made the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament seven times and made it to the Final Four in 2017.

Dillon Brooks of the Oregon Ducks directs a play against the Utah Utes at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Jan. 14, 2016, in Salt Lake City. (Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)

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Oregon still has several representatives from the Altman era in the NBA, including Chris Duarte, Eugene Omoruyi, Payton Pritchard, Bol Bol, Louis King, Troy Brown JR., Jordan Bell, Dillon Brooks, Tyler Dorsey and Chris Boucher.