Mike Krzyzewski and Jerry Colangelo issued a joint statement Thursday confirming the Duke basketball head coach’s desire to coach the United States National Team in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
There was a report that indicated Krzyzewski’s status for the Olympic Games this summer could be in jeopardy. Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com reported Colangelo as saying he was considering other options after discovering Krzyzewski would be undergoing knee surgery after the 2015-16 Duke season is concluded.
Colangelo and Krzyzewski both took issue with the report and made clarifying remarks to indicate that isn’t the case, as presented by Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports:
Coach Mike Krzyzewski said in @usabasketball statement he plans on coaching Team USA during the 2016 Rio Olympics. pic.twitter.com/aSfHdohsFy
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) February 18, 2016
This is great news. Team USA has won four gold medals with Krzyzewski as the head coach (1984, 1992, 2008 and 2012), and he’s well versed at bringing a team full of stars together for a common purpose.
Of course the program will be in good hands when Krzyzewski retires after the 2016 Olympic Games. San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is slated to replace him after the upcoming Games, and his track record of success is well documented.