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As Oregon’s sideline has become a bit of a revolving door, longtime assistant Mike Mennenga has never been happier in Eugene.
EUGENE — Ask Oregon men’s basketball assistant coach Mike Mennenga what the driving force behind his career is, and he’ll deliver a surprisingly straightforward reply.
He has always wanted to be somewhere where it “mattered.”
Nestled into an armchair inside a glass-enclosed meeting room just off the main court in Eugene’s Matthew Knight Arena — one of several structures that define a campus more in debt to the sporting world than perhaps any other nation-wide — it’s easy to appreciate his mentation.
In this case, the “it” is hoops. Athletics at large, really. And it’s one of his first ever memories of Eugene, and the university that calls it home, which backs up the notion. Hired in August of 2014, Mennenga spent one of his first weekends in the city holed up in Skybox, an apartment building on Villard, some few hundred feet from Matthew Knight.
ESPN College Gameday was in town as No. 3 Oregon hosted No. 7 Michigan State on the football field. The Ducks scored 28 unanswered that Saturday, burying the Spartans 46-27, and igniting a run to the National Championship.
The program was rolling, head coach Mark Helfrich was at the top of his game, and it all seemed as if it’d last forever. That’s how Mennenga remembers it, anyway.
It only took two years for it all to crumble.
“This is where we’re at,” said Mennenga. “The standard is set high. Anytime you coach in a space like this, there’s an expectation. At the end of the day though, that’s what I wanted.
“At Oregon, it clearly matters.”
And it’s a big reason why Mennenga has become somewhat of an anomaly around these parts. A program defined by personnel turnover has suddenly become a revolving door of coaching turnover, as well. This offseason was the third in a row that Altman’s had to replace at least one departing assistant.
But this afternoon Mennenga will start the season on the sidelines for the 10th time for the Ducks when Oregon faces Georgia at 1:30 p.m., and there are plenty of factors keeping the program’s second-longest1 tenured staff member in the fold.
Start with his growing love of the outdoors.
Location doesn’t hurt, in this instance. With rivers like the Willamette and McKenzie at his doorstep, Mennenga fashions himself a bit of an adventurer these days. His preferred transportation method? Kayak.
“I grew up in Illinois,” he said. “My first college coaching gig was at Maine. My second college coaching gig was at Buffalo. Then after that, I was on the East Coast/Midwest. So coming to Eugene was like the tropics for me.
“People complain about the rain, but I’m in the gym all the time. (It) beats snow and ice.”
Move to his boss, Altman, the man Mennenga confidently titles one of the best coaches in the history of the game. Altman doesn’t micromanage, said Mennenga. And he’s an excellent delegater. When Altman is busy figuring out the big picture, Mennenga is “in the trenches with the fellas.” There’s a certain balance there.
“I think (Altman would) be the first one to tell you he’s more of an introverted realist,” Mennenga said, “and I’m more of an extroverted optimist.”
But see, Mennenga is a bit of a salesman at heart. Always has been. When Altman was hired on to lead the Ducks, Mennenga, then living with his wife, Shanetta, in Buffalo, New York, nearly accepted a job selling cable packages door-to-door.
“When we were struggling paycheck-to-paycheck,” said Mennenga, “I’d look in the mirror every morning and still see a basketball coach. And that’s exactly what I told my wife.”
He went on: “I’ve always gotten teased (that) if I (could) ever focus my energy,” Mennenga said, “that passion I have for ball and coaching, into some business, I’d be all set.”
Thing is, that’s sort of what he’s pulled off in Eugene.
College athletics is a billion dollar industry. It’s also a people business at its heart. There’s some showmanship involved, but it revolves around servicing the many patrons involved at the end of the day, Mennenga said. And he has always poured his energy into relationships and communication because it’s what his father taught him to do.
With the Ducks, those skills have superbly collided with Oregon’s brand and resources and a head coach who’s always appreciated, and utilized, unconventional recruiting, to form one of the West Coast’s more successful salesmen.
In his first two seasons, Mennenga helped orchestrate the additions of Dillon Brooks, Chris Boucher and Dylan Ennis, a trio of Canadians who helped comprise the core of the Ducks’ 2017 Final Four team. Over the ensuing seven years, in which he has blossomed into one of the program’s biggest promoters — a role Altman delegates, happily — there have been a host of other wins on the recruiting trail for Mennenga, who has grown as a recruiter on a loose leash from Altman.
“Oregon is Oregon,” he said. “It allows me to get into any household out there. Everybody’s taking our call.”
And all that hand wringing over NIL, the portal and realignment? You won’t see such cynicism from Mennenga. Oregon has worked its tail off to be a true national presence, he said, and now, they’re in more backyards than ever.
It’s an added wrinkle, if anything. Although, added wrinkle or not, none of this is getting old for Mennenga.
“I covet these spots,” he said. “I still haven’t forgotten what it was like to be A: an AAU coach or B: a young player. Being approached by an Oregon, or to get an offer from an Oregon, that means something to me.”
You could say it matters.
— Shane Hoffmann, for The I-5 Corridor
Aside from assistant coach Kevin McKenna.
