Krzyzewski returns from Rio, shoots down rumors of succeeding Jerry Colangelo as USA basketball director

MORRISVILLE, N.C.—Although Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has now led USA basketball to three consecutive gold medals, his tenure with the national team is now finished.

After returning from Rio following Team USA’s victory against Serbia Sunday to win gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Krzyzewski said that he is ready to give up his post to San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. The 69-year-old also said he does not plan to succeed Jerry Colangelo as managing director of USA basketball, as Colangelo initially hinted at prior to the Olympics.

“I’m done coaching the U.S team. I won’t be [the managing director],” Krzyzewski said at Raleigh-Durham International Airport Monday. “No one can [do] Jerry Colangelo’s job, because he knows how to raise a lot of money, too. That’s almost a corporate thing, and that’s not who I am.”

Krzyzewski added that he is confident in the future of the national team. He plans to communicate and work with Popovich to ensure that USA basketball continues its success.

“I feel really good about what we’ve done, how we’ve done it, and I feel great about Pop taking over and the relationship we formed this summer and the succession that will take place,” Krzyzewski said. “We’ll work real close together in making sure we can keep this thing going.”

Krzyzewski noted that he has grown as a coach during his eleven years at the helm of Team USA. The five-time national champion said that working with NBA players and other coaches has helped him learn more about preparation, communication, technique and other aspects of the game.

With Sunday’s win, Krzyzewski will leave his post with a record of 88-1, including a 24-0 mark in the Olympics.

After the national team failed to win gold at the 2004 Olympics, Krzyzewski came on board and helped rebuild the infrastructure of USA basketball.

“It’s kind of like in college when you go from being a team to being an outstanding program,” he said. “We have an outstanding program right now. I’ve been a part of it, but certainly, not the only part of it.”

But Krzyzewski’s final Olympic appearance as head coach did not come without Team USA facing adversity.

Before cruising through the knockout rounds in Rio de Janeiro—the Americans defeated their final three opponents by a total of 63 points—Krzyzewski's squad squeaked by its last three opponents in the preliminary round by a combined 16 points.

Krzyzewski acknowledged that the competition in Rio was better than that at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics, where he captured his other two gold medals. 

“To me, there were more good teams in this Olympics than there were in ‘08 and ’12,” Krzyzewski said. “In other words, more medal-worthy teams, and if you’re medal-worthy, that means you’re gold-medal worthy, because anything can happen depending on who your matchup is against.”