Mike Krzyzewski is one of the most accomplished coaches at any level of any sport right now. He just won his fifth national championship with Duke this past April, and he has also done a tremendous job of leading Team USA for the better part of the last decade. Krzyzewski will be the head coach for the U.S. in the 2016 Olympics again, but he says this will be his last go round, as he is planning to step down after Rio, according to Andy Katz of ESPN.
"It is. It definitely is [my last stint]. I think it's time to move ahead," he 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.
While Coach K doesn't plan on coaching the team after the 2016 Olympics, he has given no indication that he is anywhere close to retiring from his coaching gig at Duke, and he has also said he wants to remain involved with Team USA. After building up the USA Basketball program for the past ten years, Krzyzewski believes it is time for somebody else to come in and continue the progression that he has started.
Coach K has led Team USA to gold medals in both the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics while also adding a 2010 World Championship and most recently gold at the 2014 World Cup. Overall, his record with the national team is 75-1, and he has turned the team back into a dominant international force. Krzyzewski is hoping to add one more gold medal to his resume in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and he has a very good shot of doing that.
Krzyzewski still isn't sure who will want to play in the 2016 Olympics, as there are a lot of factors that still need to play out, but he expects good representation. As for who will replace him as head coach when he steps down, he is unsure, but Coach K did say that it should be someone with international experience and that is doesn't matter if it's a college guy or a pro guy. Krzyzewski also doesn't know what his new role with the team will be, but he seemed pretty certain he will have one.
