UO Basketball Staff Has Deep Roots In Omaha
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
To a man, members of the UO men's basketball program were hoping to stay in the Northwest for the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Because the Oregon athletic department is hosting games in Portland, the Ducks weren't eligible to play there. Thus, the top choice became Seattle.
As the tournament bracket was released Sunday, slots in the Emerald City filled up. The Ducks turned to their second choice. "It it couldn't be Seattle," UO assistant coach Tony Stubblefield said, "I wanted it to be Omaha."
A town 1,400 miles east of Eugene, smack dab in the middle of the country, might seem a strange preference. But a substantial branch of the Oregon basketball program's roots stretch to Omaha. UO head coach Dana Altman, assistant coach Kevin McKenna and Stubblefield have deep ties to the city, where the Ducks will face Oklahoma State on Friday (3:40 p.m. PT, TBS).
Stubblefield, a native of Iowa, played at Nebraska-Omaha. In the mid-90s, when his playing career was over, he took the first step toward a coaching career by working camps hosted at Creighton, in Omaha. The first year he worked a Creighton camp was the program's first under a new coach, Altman — who had hired a Creighton alum, McKenna, on his first staff with the Bluejays.
McKenna was living back in Omaha after his six-year NBA career. He has a brother who still lives there, and another in their native Chicago area. McKenna's parents will travel from their Minneapolis home to see the game, and he hopes a flock of Bluejays fans do so as well.
"It's going to be fun seeing them, and hopefully having them root for the Ducks," said McKenna, who served two stints on Altman's Creighton staff, leaving for three years in between to serve as head coach at — where else? — Nebraska-Omaha.
Stubblefield and McKenna have been integral to Oregon's success in five seasons under Altman, having been on staff with the Ducks since Altman arrived in 2011. Altman's passion for coaching defense is complemented by McKenna's influence on the offensive end, while Stubblefield and first-year assistant Mike Mennenga devote large chunks of their time to recruiting future Ducks, and skill-development with the current roster.
McKenna goes back the longest with Altman, having submitted a resume to the new Creighton head coach when he was hired there in 1994. McKenna respected the tough, blue-collar edge to the Kansas State teams on which Altman was an assistant prior to taking over at Creighton.
In the two decades since, they've worked to instill that same edge at Creighton and Oregon. They've favored an offense that spreads the floor, and pressing defenses that upset an opponent's rhythm. They're constantly adapting to fit their personnel, and to keep foes off-balance.
"Over the years we've added stuff to it, taken away, just tried to play different," McKenna said. "With Joe (Young) this year, Joe's a good ball-screen guy, so we try to put him in more ball-screen situations, which hasn't allowed us to run as much spread. It's just the adaptation and the changing to our personnel — but still having that one offense as our base."
It wasn't too long after Altman hired McKenna that they first encountered Stubblefield. A two-year letterman at Nebraska-Omaha, Stubblefield's first impression of Altman was of "a very brilliant basketball mind, but just a really good guy."
"It was his introduction to his camp (as a first-year coach), so he was very hands on," Stubblefield recalled. "I knew he was a basketball guy just by him being as hands on as he was. When you've got kids there in third and fourth grade, you see a lot of head coaches that are in and out. He was around the whole week, very involved. I knew he loved being around the game and just teaching — and not just at the college level; young kids as well."
Stubblefield said Altman brings that same level of attentiveness to his teams at Oregon. Some head coaches will miss a practice here and there to recruit, or delegate film review with players to assistant coaches. Not Altman.
"If you're going to play for Coach Altman, he's going to give you 110 percent," Stubblefield said. "You're going to get his undivided attention."
That level of investment enables Altman to be tough on his players, who know from his commitment that he has their best interest in mind. McKenna said Altman will call players after losses to sooth the sting of defeat and get them looking forward, another gesture not universal among head coaches.
Altman's interest in development extends to his staff as well as players. Stubblefield worked with Oregon's guards his first few years on staff, but has helped develop the team's big men the last couple seasons.
"Coach Altman's the type of coach, he wants you to be very well-rounded," Stubblefield said. "So if you finally get to be a head coach, he's given you as much knowledge as possible. That's one benefit of working for coach, is just learning the whole game."
Stubblefield has enjoyed the benefit of coaching under Altman going back 20 years now, as has McKenna. Those relationships were formed back in Omaha, where the UO basketball program under Altman took root, and where the Ducks will open the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
