COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Duke University and former United States National Team head coach Mike Krzyzewski was named a co-recipient of the 2016 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year Award on Thursday in recognition of USA Basketball’s third consecutive Olympic gold medal.
Krzyzewski shared the honor with Geno Auriemma, who led the U.S. Women’s National Team to Olympic gold in Rio.
This honor marks the record seventh time Coach K has earned at least a share of the USA Basketball National Coach of the Year Award. He was similarly honored in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014.
“Certainly, I am honored to share the 2016 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year award with Geno Auriemma, a terrific leader whose accomplishments in women’s basketball stand alone,” Krzyzewski said. “Any award that a coach or individual receives is the product of having a great team. Starting with the leadership of Jerry Colangelo, we’ve had that in USA Basketball. Our staff was together every step of this journey, and our players were, too. It was another magical run to gold in Rio, and I was thrilled and honored to be a part of it.”
Coach K, who produced an 88-1 record as head coach of the USA Men’s National Team, is the first head basketball coach to win three Olympic gold medals, and he and Henry Iba (1964, 1968 and 1972) are the only coaches to lead three straight U.S. Olympic teams.
“He motivated all of us every single day, and the standard that he held us to was a championship-level standard,” Kevin Durant, the leading scorer on the 2016 USA Olympic Team, said. “We followed that blueprint from day one. We all believed in him, he believed in us and we were able to go out there and accomplish something special.”
Krzyzewski is also the first coach in the history of international basketball to win back-to-back Olympic and FIBA World Cup titles.
Per Duke Sports Information
