COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - In recognition of USA Basketball's sixth straight women's Olympic gold medal and third straight men's Olympic gold medal, which were earned at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games this past summer, USA head coaches Geno Auriemma and Mike Krzyzewski were selected as co-recipients of the 2016 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year Award.
This is a record seventh time Krzyzewski has earned at least a share of the USA Basketball Coach of the Year award, the fourth such honor for Auriemma and the fourth time the two coaches have shared the recognition since 2010.
USA Basketball CEO/Executive Director. "We are grateful for their invaluable contributions, and we are proud to recognize their efforts.",Jim Tooley"USA Basketball has been extremely fortunate to have the tremendous leadership of Geno and Coach K, and the 2016 Olympic teams were a direct reflection of their dedication and commitment," said
Auriemma led the 2016 U.S. Olympic Women's Basketball Team to an 8-0 record and gold medal from Aug. 6-20 as the USA topped opponents by an average margin of 37.2 points per game.
"When you get to coach the best team in the world like I have in the last two Olympics, you feel incredibly fortunate," Auriemma said. "All the time and effort, resources and help the people that I have worked with at USA Basketball provide is first class. All I have to do is my part, and that's what we tried to do. We were successful, and it's a tremendous honor to be recognized this way, no matter how many times it happens. I'm never going to be in this situation again, so I really appreciate it."
Krzyzewski guided the 2016 U.S. Olympic Men's Basketball Team to an 8-0 record as the USA won its games by an average of 22.5 ppg. from Aug. 6-21.
"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."
USA Basketball teams with Auriemma on the sideline are 50-1 in official FIBA and FIBA Americas competitions. Including exhibition games, Auriemma has helped USA teams compile an overall record of 90-9 and a 73-9 mark as a head coach.
Auriemma is the first coach in U.S. women's history to lead back-to-back Olympic teams and the first to capture consecutive Olympic gold medals.
"Coach has the ability to make the best players in the world work as one, play unselfishly and make each other better," said Diana Taurasi, a tri-captain of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Women's Basketball Team. "The list of what coach Auriemma has accomplished as a coach is endless but his character and the respect I have for him as a person is beyond words."
Coach K, who owns a spectacular 88-1 record as head coach of the USA Men's National Team since 2006 and an overall USA Basketball coaching record of 142-7, 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.
Krzyzewski also is the first coach in the history of international basketball to win back-to-back Olympic and FIBA World Cup titles.
"He motivated all of us every single day, and the standard that he held us to was a championship-level standard," said Kevin Durant, the USA's leading scorer at the 2016 Olympics. "We followed that blue print from day one. We all believed in him, he believed in us and we were able to go out there and accomplish something special."
Courtesy www.usab.com