With two gold medals as the head coach of Team USA, one would say Mike Krzyzewski has been far beyond successful. Now, Coach K will only have one more opportunity to win a gold meal for the United States. Coach K announced today that he will resign as head coach after the upcoming 2016 Olympic Games. Originally, he planned on stepping down as head coach after their 2012 victory, but he wanted to come back for one more chance at another gold medal.
“It is. It definitely is,” Krzyzewski told ESPN about this being his last stint as head coach with USA Basketball. “I think it’s time to move ahead. During the next season there will be a number of decisions made about the future of USA Basketball with Rio [the roster] and coaching. “There has to be a succession … a planned succession with really good people so we can keep the continuity of the program going.”
It is disappointing to hear Coach K will be stepping down after the upcoming Olympics, but it was the right move to do it this early. In doing so, the executives at Team USA will be able to start deciding who will be his successor sooner than later.
One coach to keep in mind to succeed Krzyzewski is Gregg Popovich. Pop is respected as the NBA’s best coach and is probably the best overall coach available in both college and professional basketball.
It will be up to Popovich on whether or not he wants to take the job, but having him as the coach for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics gives Team USA their best chance. As a matter of fact, having predominantly most of the best basketball players on the planet playing for your country helps too.
