Tonight, Dana Altman coaches his first game in Arkansas.

It is also his first trip back to the state since he accepted the job of head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks basketball team, then changed his mind.

He’s coming back with his team, the Creighton Bluejays, in an early showdown of undefeated teams, taking on the UALR Trojans in the Jack Stephens Center.

It has been about 18 months since Altman, who has turned down numerous offers from other universities in his career, came and went from the UA campus in less than 24 hours.

He’s heard, and mostly laughed, at the jokes.

He’s heard allegations and explanations, but for the most part, he has remained silent about what really changed his mind.

It wasn’t his teenage daughter, who was upset at the thought of leaving her friends, although that was one of the final factors.

It wasn’t that when he stepped down from the podium after being named the new coach — and then suffered a turnover with the customary Hog call — he was handed a folder with a rundown of academic and drug problems.

Those were things he was unaccustomed to at the Jesuit school where he had spent 15 years building a very successful program, but he wasn’t afraid of the challenge.

It wasn’t even that after Frank Broyles hired him and immediately left for Augusta and the Masters. Altman would have been Broyles’ final hire as the UA athletic director. (Hmm, that’s food for thought. )

It was later that night, after a dinner with then-Chancellor John White, that Altman and his wife conferred in their hotel room and he called Creighton to see if he could have his job back.

With joy, the school said yes.

The next morning, Altman and his family flew back to Omaha, Neb., and began the job of rebuilding a program with freshmen, something he has done before.

Immediately, White said he would be involved in the hiring of the next basketball coach, spending almost $ 100, 000 to find John Pelphrey, who had been an assistant coach at SEC member Florida before becoming head coach at South Alabama.

Pelphrey also played four years for the Kentucky Wildcats, including against the Razorbacks in SEC play.

Pelphrey has become wildly popular, something Altman would have experienced, too, but he hasn’t really looked back.

“I was excited about coming to Arkansas,” Altman said, and then paused and added: “They got the coach they wanted. It worked out for everyone.”

Pelphrey led the Razorbacks to the NCAA Tournament and their first postseason victory since 1999.

Now, he’s rebuilding with freshmen.

A process Altman started last year when he returned to Creighton.

The Bluejays went 22-8, including an 80-61 victory over the Trojans, but they finished an unaccustomed 10-8 in Missouri Valley play and went to the NIT, where they lost to Florida in the second round 82-54.

So Altman has more on his mind right now than the reception he will receive tonight.

“We can make some of the darndest mistakes you’ve ever seen,” he said. “You can’t be a good team without consistency, and that is in practice and games, and we haven’t been very consistent so far.”

Altman is also concerned about the Steve Shields ’ Trojans.

“Steve does a great job, and I know from watching film they are improved from last year, and they were pretty good because our game was closer than the score,” he said.

UALR and Creighton are both 3-0 to start the season.

This is Altman’s 16 th year at Creighton, and while it is inevitable other schools will call him — it is almost a spring ritual when schools have an opening — it may be he has found his home.

He came very close to leaving last year, but in the end, he and his family knew they were an accepted part of the Bluejays family.