Nebraska basketball: Altman rumors were always wishful thinking

Rumors that Oregon coach Dana Altman might be manning the helm of the Nebraska basketball team seemed to be more fantasy than fact from the start.

Nebraska basketball coach Tim Miles has to be wondering what he has to do to get the Husker faithful to stop wishing for his dismissal. Miles came into the 2017-18 season squarely on the hot seat.

Then it seemed as if he did exactly what it should have taken to get off that hot seat. Miles’ team won 22 games this past season and was a hare’s breath away from the NCAA tournament.

Because the Huskers ended their season with a blowout Big Ten tournament loss and then a lackluster NIT loss, it appears some want Miles on the hot seat once again.

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In fact, some Cornhusker fans want Miles to be kicked to the curb. Those same fans apparently wanted him replaced with a man that Nebraskans know plenty well.

Dana Altman made his name coaching the Creighton Bluejays before he headed to the Oregon Ducks. Shortly after the Nebrasketball team lost to Mississippi State, talk surfaced that Altman might be coming back.

While those rumors seemed rather far-fetched from the beginning, Husker fans sniffing the tournament and then falling short got hungry for more success. Those same fans didn’t seem to be smelling reality.

On Monday night, Nebraska athletic director Bill Moos put the rumors of Altman heading to Lincoln to rest once and for all. If there has been one thing Moos has demonstrated in his short time here is that he is a straight shooter.

When rumors of Scott Frost coming here started up, Moos was noticeably not shooting those rumors down. In fact, some might have claimed he was being sort of coy.

That wasn’t the case when he got ahold of the rumors that Altman was headed here. While Moos has been somewhat coy about the future of Tim Miles, he made it clear that right now, he isn’t hiring a new basketball coach.

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As the Omaha World-Herald points out, the meetings between the administration and the head Nebraska basketball coach are ongoing but those hoping for a change at the top are likely going to be very disappointed.