April 3, 2007
Just more than 24 hours after he was introduced as Arkansas’ basketball head coach, Dana Altman abruptly resigned and returned to his former job at Creighton.
A day earlier, Altman concluded his introductory news conference by saying, “I’m 48 years old, and with your permission, I’d like to finish my career here at the University of Arkansas.”
As news spread of Altman’s reversal, reports surfaced that he was concerned about whether some players would be academically eligible and that some had flunked drug tests. A day after Altman resigned, Arkansas announced two players had tested positive for marijuana use and one player was on academic probation. The players weren’t identified because of federal privacy laws, but no Razorbacks were ineligible the next season when John Pelphrey took Arkansas to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Pelphrey, who was identified as a candidate by a search firm, was hired six days after Altman’s resignation. Arkansas players learned of Altman’s resignation through media reports, and Razorbacks athletics director Frank Broyles had already left town to attend The Masters in Augusta, Ga.
Accompanied by UA chancellor John White, Altman made brief comments to media and some fans assembled behind Bud Walton Arena before boarding a Creighton plane that took him back to Omaha, Neb.
“I was flipping through the channels, just to see what was on,” Arkansas forward Darian Townes said at the time. “I thought it was a joke.”
Altman coached at Creighton for three more seasons, but didn’t make an NCAA Tournament after 2007. He was hired at Oregon in 2010 and has won 71.5 percent of his games there. In 2017 he led the Ducks to the Final Four.