Coach K stepping down as USA Basketball coach after 2016 Olympics
Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski says the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will be his last at the helm for the United States men's basketball national team, reports ESPN's Andy Katz.
“I think it’s time to move ahead,” Krzyzewski said. “During the next season there will be a number of decisions made about the future of USA Basketball with Rio [the roster] and coaching.”
A successor has yet to be named, but USA Basketball expects to begin its search ahead of next summer’s Olympics.
“They will pick the best person, from whatever — the NBA or collegiate environment,” Krzyzewski said. “They will pick the best person and complement that person with a great staff and infrastructure so we can have a chance to keep winning.”
Krzyzewski led the United States to gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics after the team settled for bronze in 2004 under Larry Brown.
Krzyzewski was appointed the head coach of the United States national team in 2005 and has since compiled a 75–1 record. Most recently, he won his fifth NCAA national title with Duke in April’s national championship over the Wisconsin Badgers.
Krzyzewski will be 69 years old by the start of next summer’s Olympics, where he could become the first U.S. men’s coach to lead the team to three gold medals. Henry Iba, who coached the 1964, 1968 and 1972 teams, won back-to-back gold medals before losing the 1972 final to the Soviet Union.
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