Canzano: Dana Altman's words are music
Oregon coach didn't fly with the team after last week's upset win.
After last Saturday’s thrilling upset victory at Wisconsin, Dana Altman celebrated with his players and staff in the locker room. Then, the Oregon coach skipped the team’s chartered flight back to Eugene.
Altman was energized.
He wasn’t ready to go home.
Altman, 66, instead boarded a flight out of Madison, hitching a ride to rural Missouri on an aircraft owned by former UO Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny. Altman wanted to see a community college recruit play.
Is Altman’s career winding down?
Sure.
But the Ducks’ coach isn’t done. Last Saturday, after his team stole that impressive victory against the No. 11 team in the country, he pivoted to building his roster for next season.
Kilkenny dropped Altman off in Moberly, Mo., then pointed his flying shuttle toward Las Vegas. Norv Turner, the one-time Oregon quarterback turned NFL coach, was among the other passengers on the aircraft. Turner is now working as a senior assistant for the Raiders.
That Altman wanted to end his day inside a community college gym shouldn’t be a surprise — he was a junior college player. He grew up in a small town (Wilber, Neb.) and was in a graduating class that had only 42 students.
“I wanted to play basketball,” he told me on Friday evening, “and nobody wanted me, so I had to walk on at a junior college. It’s all my family could afford. I’ve always had a soft spot for JUCO kids.”
Several community college players have suited up over the years in Eugene. Altman listed them to me on Friday, reeling off names such as Jadrian Tracey, Carlos Emory, Elgin Cook, Dwayne Benjamin, Chris Boucher, and Chris Duarte.
“We’ve got two junior college guys in the pros,” Altman said.
Altman met his wife, Reva, while they were both students at Southeast Community College. They’ve been married 41 years. The same school in Nebraska gave him his first head coaching job.
On Friday, Altman told me: “I owe everything to the jukes. I sure like having ‘em, too, because they sure appreciate it, man. Those guys come to Oregon and get all that Nike equipment. We’re on charter flights. Those guys are used to driving in vans and buses all over.”
Altman’s voice was laced with optimism. His basketball team has won four straight games. Hours earlier, he’d received news from the NCAA that 7-foot center Nathan Bittle has been granted an extra year of eligibility.
The Ducks play at home vs. USC on Saturday at 1 p.m. There are three games left in the regular season, and then comes the program’s first appearance in the Big Ten Tournament. This last week, Altman didn’t sound or act like a guy on a farewell tour.
That soft spot for community college kids that Altman talks about?
I have it, too.
Several years ago, I was in the press box at a college football game. I arrived at my seat hours before kickoff to find a Pac-12 university president waiting for me. He was a reader and wanted to introduce himself.
He asked: “Where did you go to college?”
I told him I had started at a community college. He looked astonished. The guy couldn’t hide his surprise — it was all over his face. It wasn’t his fault, and probably said more about my thinking than his, but at that moment, I felt desperately insecure.
He’d attended two Ivy League schools — Harvard and Yale.
I went to Gavilan Community College and DeAnza Community College before transferring to Chico State.
“I thought you’d be a guy who went to UCLA or something like that,” he said, trying to help me recover.
He meant it as a compliment; I’m sure of it. At that moment, I wanted to tell him that I had good grades and test scores in high school and was accepted at several four-year schools, including UC Davis. My parents had four children within 10 years of each other. College is expensive, particularly if you don’t know what you want to study. I wanted to explain that I took the savings, enrolled in community college, and played football and baseball. But all that came out of my mouth was, “I was a JC kid.”
Another quick story: During this last college football season, I encountered a valet working at a hotel in Southern California. I observed that other staff members were walking about, sitting around, casually working, and gossiping. This kid was hustling. He sprinted from task to task. He held the door for a guest, then took my parking voucher, ran to the garage to retrieve my rental car, and then hopped out, seized a suitcase out of my hand, and closed it in the trunk.
I asked him, “Are you a college student?
He said, “I’m just at a community college. It’s all my family can afford.”
Just?
At a community college?
I spent the next few minutes giving the guy a pep talk. I channeled my inner Tony Robbins. I told him it wasn’t “just” community college. It was a trampoline, I argued. I held up the valet parking line and encouraged him to soak up the community college experience and use it to propel himself wherever he needed to go next.
I told him that his inner drive, ability to recognize opportunity, and some dumb luck — not the name of the school on his transcript — would mostly dictate his success in life. I wanted him to know that he was winning.
He thanked me.
I realized I was talking to my younger self.
It probably helps explain why I was so interested in hearing Altman’s glowing view of community colleges. I could have asked him for a scouting report on USC or what the travel demands feel like in the Big Ten, but I didn’t.
I’ve heard similar positive sentiments before from others. I’m singing it now myself. But I just kept asking questions about JCs, and Altman kept saying things such as: “Those guys are there because they love the game. They’re trying to get an education and trying to get a way out.”
It sounded like music.
I, too, am "just" a JUCO guy, Mt. San Antonio, AA (journalism) 1966. (Followed by other degrees from three universities). My third career, which I retired from, was at Portland Community College, where I taught and coordinated student services programs. Which included working with many "just community college students" who graduated and transferred--to Reed, Lewis and Clark, UO, OSU, Linfield, Pacific, U of Portland, YALE, and others--and graduated from. Often going on to graduate degrees. One of my jobs at PCC was helping them get scholarships, because they couldn't afford those schools without them. Excellent students, older, lower income, ate up their opportunities and succeeded. Best job I ever had.
I moved to Oregon after a less than distinguished 2 years at Appalachian State University in North Carolina. I worked in a lumber mill while attending Central Oregon Community College. It was tough but necessary as I had to bring my grades up. I should have probably started at a community college but arrogance got in the way. I transferred to the University of Oregon and graduated from there. My appreciation for the community college experience has stayed with me for my life. Thanks again JC for another good column. This one hit me personally.