The Oregon Ducks men's basketball team is an intercollegiate basketball program that competes in the NCAA Division I and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference, representing the University of Oregon. The Ducks play their home games at Matthew Knight Arena, which has a capacity of 12,364. Then coached by Howard Hobson, Oregon won the first NCAA men's basketball national championship in 1939. They again reached the Final Four in 2017 under head coach Dana Altman, marking the longest span between appearances in NCAA history (78 years). The Ducks have made the NCAA tournament 17 times, and have won eight conference championships.
History
Early years
The University of Oregon men's basketball team played its first season in 1902–03 with Charles Burden as the head coach. Only two games were played that season with Oregon losing both games. Oregon did not record a win until its fourth season in 1907 against Roseburg. The season ended with a winning record of 4–3, under Hugo Bezdek, who also coached the football team. Bezdek left after that season to coach at Arkansas until 1913 when he went back to Oregon to coach until 1917.
During Bezdek's absence, the basketball team was coached largely by William Hayward, Oregon's track coach. In 1923, William Reinhart took over as the head coach and remained through the erection of McArthur Court until 1935. Coach Reinhart suffered only one losing season at Oregon.
The Tall Firs
Howard Hobson, an alumnus of the university, became the head coach in 1935, following Reinhart's departure. His ideas were considered cutting edge during his years at Oregon and he was well ahead of his time. He ran a fast break offense little used by anyone else in the country at the time and his defenses were an unorthodox hybrid defense. He lobbied for the installment of a shot clock and three-point field goal years before they were first introduced. In 1939, the Oregon Ducks became the first team to win the NCAA Basketball Championship. Sports editor L. H. Gregory coined the phrase "Tall Firs" to describe the Oregon players due to their taller stature compared to other teams in the country. The season started with a long trip to the east coast for a series of games, ending with a loss to Stanford back west in San Francisco. The Ducks went 6–3 during that trip but gained valuable experience for the remainder of the season. Oregon went 14–2 to claim the North Division title in the Pacific Coast Conference, which set off a best-of-three playoff against the California Golden Bears. The Ducks won two games straight to claim the conference title.
The Ducks returned to San Francisco for the NCAA regional series where they defeated the Texas Longhorns in the first game 56–41 then the Oklahoma Sooners 55–37. The Ohio State Buckeyes had defeated Wake Forest and Villanova in their regional series to earn their right in the championship game. On March 27, Oregon and Ohio State squared off to claim the national title. Oregon emerged victorious to claim the first NCAA national championship trophy, defeating Ohio State 46–33.
Howard Hobson remained as the head coach until 1947 except for a one-year hiatus during the 1944–45 season, coached by John Warren.
Kamikaze Kids
The six decades following the Tall Firs consisted of an eclectic mix of up and down years, with more down than up. From Hobson's departure in 1947 until 1970, Oregon made only two NCAA Tournament appearances, in 1960 and 1961 under head coach Steve Belko. Those were the days when only one team per conference (usually the conference champion) was guaranteed a bid to the NCAA Tournament. One of Belko's stars was Stan Love, a gifted shooter and rebounder, who led the Pac-8 in scoring for two straight seasons. He is the father of current NBA star Kevin Love. In 1971, head coach Dick Harter arrived at Oregon and achieved some consistency with the program. Harter's teams were dubbed the Kamikaze Kids and featured hard play, diving for loose balls, and swarming defense. They were also credited for inspiring the intimidating atmosphere at McArthur Court. While they never earned any conference titles due to UCLA's dominance of the Pac-8 (their best finish was second in 1976–77), they were not without accomplishments. They assembled two 20 win seasons, appeared in three straight NITs, and upset #1 ranked UCLA in 1974.
Harter's only losing season in Oregon was his first. He left in 1978 and the Ducks slid, suffering five consecutive losing seasons. Oregon made an appearance in the NCAA tournament in 1995 under head coach Jerry Green, but otherwise accrued largely mediocre records in the two decades after Harter's departure.