New Assistant

[greenyellow]

Looks like Altman is bringing in one of his assistants from Creighton, Brian Fish.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksb ... _adds.html

[duckgrad99]

Awesome, another fishduck!!!!!

[uostudent]

As for Kenny Payne, an assistant at Oregon under Ernie Kent, his status is still unknown. Asked whether he would retain the services of Payne, who recruited many of the current Ducks as well as past stars such as Malik Hairston and Tajuan Porter, Altman was noncommittal.

“We had a good discussion,’’ Altman said of his initial talks with Payne. “I was very impressed with him. But I won’t make any decisions about his position and a couple of other positions for as long as two weeks.’’

What the heck is going on with Kenny Payne? Give him a raise and get this done. Payne is an integral part of this basketball program. Maybe he can also hold the title of Director of Basketball Operations.

[greenyellow]

As for Kenny Payne, an assistant at Oregon under Ernie Kent, his status is still unknown. Asked whether he would retain the services of Payne, who recruited many of the current Ducks as well as past stars such as Malik Hairston and Tajuan Porter, Altman was noncommittal.

“We had a good discussion,’’ Altman said of his initial talks with Payne. “I was very impressed with him. But I won’t make any decisions about his position and a couple of other positions for as long as two weeks.’’

What the heck is going on with Kenny Payne? Give him a raise and get this done. Payne is an integral part of this basketball program. Maybe he can also hold the title of Director of Basketball Operations.

He has a lot of interest from schools across the country so he's probably letting him check out his options before he makes his decision. I think the best thing for this program would be to keep Payne.

[duckfan22]

i really think Altman will keep Payne. He knows the west coast and
he also has connections across the country. If he's highly regarded then
Altman already knows about that. Altman doesn't know the west coast
and neither does Fish that came today.

[dthomas=ddixon]

i really think Altman will keep Payne. He knows the west coast and
he also has connections across the country. If he's highly regarded then
Altman already knows about that. Altman doesn't know the west coast
and neither does Fish that came today.

Yeah by Altman's comments about recruiting the west coast but not knowing it very well, its seems an obvious choice to keep Payne around. He may have every intention of it but just didn't feel like saying it at the press conference.

[Tray Dub]

I'm glad we got Fish. It's important to keep the guys that understand Altman's system around so Altman has some help in putting his stamp on the team.

[Boom]

Altman would be a fool to let Payne go.........

I'm guessing it's up to Payne if he stays or not

[maxduck]

i really think Altman will keep Payne. He knows the west coast and
he also has connections across the country. If he's highly regarded then
Altman already knows about that. Altman doesn't know the west coast
and neither does Fish that came today.

Brian Fish spent 2 years as an assistant coach at San Diego so he certainly has knowledge of the area. He also recruited the West Coast for Creighton.

[duckfan22]

i really think Altman will keep Payne. He knows the west coast and
he also has connections across the country. If he's highly regarded then
Altman already knows about that. Altman doesn't know the west coast
and neither does Fish that came today.

Brian Fish spent 2 years as an assistant coach at San Diego so he certainly has knowledge of the area. He also recruited the West Coast for Creighton.

Ya i read that just this morning. I still think he should keep Payne.
What Altman i hope does is start making friends with the high school
coaches here in the state of Oregon. Oregon turns out some pretty
good players also.

[woundedknees]

I always wondered why EK and and company missed on much of the in-state talent. Sure, he got a few, such as Jackson, Leunen, and Jones, but there was never any consistency, just like his win-loss record.

It was surprising talking to a couple current and former HS coaches (who I know personally), who stated that they actually encouraged players to look elsewhere... And disappointing when I heard the term as arrogant too, as one of the main words used to describe EK. I don't know exactly how they arrived at that conclusion, but I do know at least a couple of them are expressing optimism about the new coach and the potential direction of the program.

Take it for what it's worth.

[dthomas=ddixon]

I always wondered why EK and and company missed on much of the in-state talent. Sure, he got a few, such as Jackson, Leunen, and Jones, but there wass never any consistency, just like his win-loss record.

It was surprising talking to a couple current and former HS coaches (who I know personally), who stated that they actually encouraged players to look elsewhere... And disappointing when I heard the term as arrogant to as one of the main words used to describe EK. I don't know exactly how they arrived at that conclusion, but I do know at least a couple of them are expressing optimism about the new coach and the potential direction of the program.

Take it for what it's worth.

Thanks for sharing wounded. Thats very good news for the future but also explains a lot. It never made sense to me how top in state kids the past few years wouldn't even give us a look.

This state may not produce a ton of players but it always produces quality players. If you can lock down the one or two 4 & 5* players that we have in state just about every year, we won't need to do much else. Just snag a couple kids from Cali & you're set.

[Duck Dogers]

Come on bring Freddy Jones in as a assistant.: )

[ducksfosho]

Come on bring Freddy Jones in as a assistant.: )

^^^+2

[gofightingducks]

The other assistant is going to stay at Creighton which hopefully means Payne stays on.