Oregon Ducks at Matthew Knight Arena
The Oregon Ducks are a sight to behold, and not just because of their trademark Day-Glo uniforms and trippy court. Under coach Dana Altman, the Ducks have developed a rep for playing a lively, fluid brand of positionless basketball, full of back cuts and sharp little passes. Year after year, the defense is a rock, with recent editions protecting the rim better than just about any team in the country.
The Ducks' eccentric bent extends to the very floor they play on at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene. Designed by Nike legend Tinker Hatfield, Kilkenny Floor is intended to evoke the experience of looking up from a forest floor and glimpsing a bit of sky through the tree branches. The arena, which opened its doors in 2011, cost $227 million to build, making it the most expensive on-campus stadium in the United States (it was financed through state-backed bonds). Oregon is also known for its teams' glow-in-the-dark electric-green uniforms, which will come in handy if the arena ever loses power. The overall effect is of a sports program that leans fully into its eccentricity.
Oregon Ducks Men's Basketball History
Oregon basketball has long possessed a certain experimental spirit. There were the so-called Tall Firs, the nickname hung on the 1938-39 team that won the NCAA's first-ever national championship, though there was a lot more to that Oregon bunch than height. Coach Howard Hobson liked to run fast breaks at a time when few teams played uptempo basketball, and his defenses were unorthodox hybrids. There were the Kamikaze Kids of the Dick Harter era, known for their swarming style of play. And today, you can't argue with coach Altman's results: Since he arrived in 2010-11, Altman has put up 20-win season after 20-win season, including a berth in the 2017 Final Four.
