Tag: tony stubblefield

Dana Altman announces the return of assistant Tony Stubblefield

Oregon’s level of success wasn’t the same without assistant Tony Stubblefield and now he has returned to Eugene.

To those paying attention, you could see this from a mile away.

From the moment DePaul let head coach Tony Stubblefield go mid-season, the speculation of him returning to Oregon began.

Now it’s official.

Oregon men’s basketball Head Coach Dana Altman has announced the hiring of Stubblefield as an assistant coach.

“We are excited to have Tony back in Eugene,” said Altman. “He’s an excellent coach and will make an immediate impact on our team.”

Stubblefield spent 11 seasons on Altman’s Oregon staff before taking over the Blue Demon program. The Ducks reached seven NCAA Tournaments, including five Sweet 16s, two Elite Eights, and a Final Four with Stubblefield on staff.

During his tenure, Stubblefield helped Oregon assemble four recruiting classes that were ranked among the top 12 nationally (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019). Included in those classes were future NBA players Troy Brown Jr., Louis King, Bol Bol, and Payton Pritchard.

His absence was noticeable as Oregon missed the last three NCAA tournaments before making a run this season. Stubblefield still followed the Ducks during and after he was the coach at DePaul and was seen at the NCAA tourney in Pittsburgh.

Dana Altman hopes former DePaul coach Tony Stubblefield will return to Eugene

Former men’s basketball assistant coach Tony Stubblefield is available once again and Dana Altman would welcome him back to Oregon.

It’s no coincidence that in the two seasons right after former assistant men’s basketball coach Tony Stubblefield left to coach DePaul the Ducks missed the NCAA tournament.

Stubblefield was Altman’s right-hand man for 11 seasons and played a huge part in recruiting and developing players such as Tyler Dorsey, Jordan Bell, Chris Boucher and a whole host of other great players who have come to Eugene over the past decade.

Now Stubblefield is available once again as DePaul lets him go after two-plus seasons on the job. In preparation for this coming week’s games with the Arizona schools, Altman voiced his admiration for his former assistant and friend.

“I’ll tell you what, Tony Stubblefield is a good basketball coach. He’ll have 50 or 60 job offers this week. Everybody knows the DePaul situation, how tough it is, how underfunded they are,” he said. “And in that league (The Big East), you’ve got some teams that are very well funded in NIL and he was fighting an uphill battle from the go. And when they changed the rules on the NIL, he really was. So I know it’s not what he wanted. It’s not what the school wanted, but Tony Stubblefield is a good basketball coach.”

Those “50-60 job offers” Altman mentioned surely will include other head coaching jobs, but if Stubblefield ever wanted to return to Oregon, Altman would be the first one to welcome him back home.

“I’ve talked to him, you know, I sure hope that he’ll at least take a look at us.”

Altman says that nothing will happen until after the season, if it happens at all, but there is a hope that a reunion will take place.

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Former Oregon assistant coach Tony Stubblefield let go from DePaul

Longtime Dana Altman assistant Tony Stubblefield was fired by DePaul in his third season on the job where they were 3-15 this year.

A 3-15 start usually does result in a pink slip.

Longtime Oregon men’s basketball assistant coach Tony Stubblefield was fired from DePaul after winning just three of the Blue Demons’ 18 games this season.

In his two-plus seasons at DePaul, Stubblefield was 28-54.

“After evaluating the current state of our men’s basketball program, a decision was made to make a change in the head coaching position,” said DePaul Vice President and Director of Athletics DeWayne Peevy. “We want to thank Coach Stubblefield for his hard work and determination over the last two-plus seasons to move our basketball program forward through a new era for DePaul Athletics. Unfortunately, we did not meet our goals.”

Before being hired at DePaul, Stubblefield was Dana Altman’s right-hand man and No. 1 assistant for 11 seasons at Oregon where he helped recruit and develop talents such as Tyler Dorsey, Dillon Brooks and a host of others.

Stubblefield was important in turning the Duck program around with Altman where they eventually made a Final Four appearance in 2017. Going forward, it is unclear what the next step is for Stubblefield, but I think many Oregon fans would be happy to see him back in Eugene to assist Altman once again going forward.

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