Mike Krzyzewski To Coach 2016 U.S. Olympic Team

After initially indicating that 2012 would be the last time he coached the USA Men's Basketball team in Olympic play, Mike Krzyzewski will return for the 2016 games in Rio, according to Pete Thamel of SI.com. Thamel reports that an official announcement is expected within the next 48 hours.

We heard over the weekend that Krzyzewski had changed course and decided not to rule out the possibility of continuing on as USA Basketball's head coach. When we asked whether Krzyzewski or another coach was the best candidate for the job, a third of you picked the longtime Duke coach, who beat out Gregg Popovich (27.68%) and Phil Jackson (22.62%).

As Thamel notes, Krzyzewski has a 62-1 record as Team USA's head coach, having earned gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics as well as the 2012 London Olympics. USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo had remained confident that he could convince Krzyzewski to return for the '16 games, and was steadfast about not pursuing other coaching candidates until Coach K officially told him no.

While Krzyzewski will return, Thamel says his Team USA staff may not return entirely intact. In London, Coach K's assistants included Jim Boeheim, Mike D'Antoni, and Nate McMillan.

View Comments (0)