While this has been a down year in the PAC-12 overall, credit has to be given to Oregon Head basketball coach Dana Altman. Regardless of the competition level, the fact that he has this Duck squad in the race for the conference crown is more than impressive. Altman inherited a program in complete shambles, having lost the likes of Matt Humphrey, Michael Dunigan, Josh Crittle, Drew Wiley and Jamil Wilson, among others. Altman started off with a bang by landing a very solid recruiting class, which included five-star Jabari Brown. In addition to his solid recruiting class, Altman helped guide the Ducks to the CBI Tournament Championship after fighting off a couple of elimination games.

Dana Altman has turned lemons into lemonade in his short time at Oregon. What can he do when he gets all of his recruits?

At the completion of last season, another tumultuous off-season awaited Altman and the rest of the Ducks' coaching staff. Malcolm Armstead and Teondre Williams, two seniors-to-be, left the program instead of finishing their careers in Eugene. Even with team leader and star player, Joevan Catron running out of eligibility, Altman had a decent core of players returning and some reinforcements coming to town.

Not only did Altman sign a top-20 recruiting class, but he found a number of transfers looking for an opportunity to close out their careers in a Duck uniform. Devoe Joseph, who has been Oregon's go to guy since he became eligible at the end of the fall term, transferred in from Minnesota. Olu Ashaolu did the same after three years at Louisiana Tech. Altman helped highly regarded, yet somewhat troubled big man, Tony Woods find a new home to start fresh. Woods had some legal issues at Wake Forrest but seems to be a model citizen in Eugene. Another move that has proven to be a huge boost tot he program has been the addition of Carlos Emory, a junior college transfer that has come on strong of late and provided a huge spark off the bench for the Ducks.

Woods has been a force in the middle, setting records with each new shot he swats into the crowd, while Emory has been instrumental in the Ducks recent surge.

On the flip side of the off-season additions are Jabari brown and Bruce Barron. Both came in with high expectations, only to leave a few games into this season. Altman remained calm and steady as he always does and simply said that he will go on coaching this team with the players that buy into what he is trying to build. A lot of coaches would have reacted differently, but not Altman. He has guided the Ducks to the brink of post-season play once again. The Ducks currently sit at 18-7, and 9-4 in league play.

At this point, the Ducks are almost assured of a post-season appearance. Whether that takes them to the NCAA Tournament, the NIT or the CBI is yet to be determined. The only sure thing about this Duck program right now is that Altman deserves the PAC-12 Coach of the Year award. He has held together a program that has had more moving pieces than a travelling circus and made them into contenders.

Regardless of what happens the rest of the way this year, Altman is proving more and more each day that he was the right man for the job.

This off-season will bring more change to Altman and the Ducks. Losing senior leader, Garrett Sim will be tough as he has been big in some clutch situations for the Ducks this year. Losing Olu Ashaolu and Devoe Joseph will also hurt as they have been big for the team as well. Ashaolu has had some huge dunks and plays hard as the only real offensive weapon for the Ducks down low. Joseph has been the guy for the Ducks as he averages a team leading 15.7 points per game. Jeremy Jacob and Tyrone Nared have both done their part to contribute and losing two more guys that stand at 6-foot-8 will hurt on the boards as well.

Going into next season, the Ducks do have a big man in Woods, a do-everything glue guy in EJ Singler and the emerging Carlos Emory as a solid threesome to hold the team together. What the Ducks lack is someone to get to the rim with regularity. While the 2012 recruiting class is yet to yield a true slasher or scoring two guard, Altman already inked one of the nation's top point guards in Dominic Artis. Artis is a former UCLA commit, who currently stars at national power, Findlay Prep (Henderson, NV.)

Dominic Artis is the next high profile recruit to come to Oregon.

In fact, Altman has three prospects already signed for 2012, and they all come from powerhouse programs. Damyean Dotson is a 6-foot-6 slasher from Houston, TX power, Yates High School. Rounding out the versatile threesome already locked in for 2012, is Ben Carter, a 6-foot-8 power forward from one of the top programs in the country, Bishop Gorman High School (Las Vegas, NV)

A point guard looks to be the biggest need and Artis fills that need immediately as he will step on the court and make an impact from the time he steps on campus.

Another need for the Ducks is adding some size. Anthony Bennett is the No. 2 power forward in the class of 2012, just behind teammate and former Oregon target, Brandon Ashley. Winston Shepard is another 6-foot-8 power forward that has Oregon as one of his remaining schools. Landing Shepard would be big as he is a four-star talent with ideal size. Landing Bennett would be even bigger. The five-star is down to Kentucky, Florida, UNLV, Washington and Oregon. Like many of Findlay Prep's stars, Bennett hails from Canada so location doesn't play a huge role in his recruitment. With Ashley out of the picture as an Arizona commit, Bennett and Shepard would both instantly make the Ducks better up front. They are both from the same school as Artis, so they would have someone they are familiar with on and off the court, should they choose the Ducks.

Even if the Ducks are unable to ink either of them, it is quite apparent that Dana Altman will have a plan in place as he has proven to be a master of putting together a puzzle with random pieces and turning it into a respectable piece of art.

Once Altman gets the proper pieces in place and is able to set up his roster according to plan, the Oregon basketball program looks like it may be ready to explode onto the college hoops scene. Ernie Kent was able to put the Ducks on the map, but Altman has the new facilities and the coaching ability to do what Kent couldn't do; turn the Ducks into a consistent force in the PAC-12 and beyond.