A press conference slated for July 21st in Las Vegas will officially set the course of the USA Basketball Senior National Team’s next four-year term. This week, USAB managing director Jerry Colangelo offered some hints. “All leads point to Coach K coming back,” Colangelo stated. “With the success we had, I would do everything in my power to keep everything intact.”
Colangelo continued, “I’m a strong believer in not upsetting the apple cart.” In this case, when you have the likes of LeBron, Kobe, D. Wade, Carmelo and Coach K manning your apple cart, Colangelo’s approach seems rather logical.
Reflecting on his first term with the National Team, Coach K recently told reporters, “There was not one negative thing for me, my program, my family. It helped our program, it helped me (and) it helped our school. It was just a good thing.”
Former Duke player and ESPN analyst Jay Bilas highlighted some of the specific positives for Coach K, telling the Durham Herald Sun, “It has been incredibly energizing for him. He has also learned more from the coaches on his (USA) staff and seen a different way of doing things. It has expanded his basketball horizons.”
The next term kicks off this summer with a training camp in Las Vegas beginning on July 22. The National Team will reconvene next summer to prepare for and participate in the World Championships in Turkey. The four-year commitment wraps up with the 2012 Olympics in London where the focus will be on a golden repeat.
Said Nolan Smith about his coach taking another shot at the Gold, “He has coached the best, won a gold medal this year and if he chooses to do it again I have great confidence that they are going to win another gold medal. I’m proud to be playing for such an honored and respected coach. It makes me a proud player everyday we go to practice to know that this guy, Coach K, coached Kobe and LeBron. It’s just a great feeling.”
Here’s our look back at last summer’s gold-medal win:
