SANTO DOMINGO (FIBA Basketball World Cup/2015 FIBA Americas Championship) - The last thing the Dominican Republic want following Orlando Antigua's resignation as national team boss is for the program to lose the momentum it has been building for the past several years.

The Dominicans have made a steady climb to No 20 in the FIBA bwin Ranking Men and now have one of the top sides in the Americas, with the latest evidence being the team's strong showing at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

Despite playing for the second straight year without Atlanta Hawks NBA All-Star Al Horford, Antigua's squad reached the Round of 16.

National team general manager Eduardo Najri and his colleagues at the federation are now putting their heads together, trying to come up with the successor to Antigua.

One candidate to emerge is Ron Sanchez, who assisted Antigua the past two summers.

Sanchez, who was born in the Dominican Republic but moved to the United States at the age of seven, had a brief chat with Najri just 24 hours after the announcement that Antigua was not going to continue in the role.

When asked by FIBA.com if he wanted to coach the team, Sanchez said: "I did speak to Eduardo.

"He and his staff are getting together to figure out what is best for the team and I would love to be a part of our staff in any way, whatever capacity, as long as they feel it's best for the team."

Sanchez, who is fully focused on his role as an assistant coach at NCAA high-fliers Virginia, admits he is proud to be considered for the coaching role.

I am so humbled they would even consider me for that position - Sanchez

"I am honored they would even put me in the pool of candidates to do that," Sanchez said.

"It's a huge thing for me."

Sanchez stressed that what is most important for him is that the Dominican Republic continue moving from strength to strength.

"My main priority is for the team to win,” he said.

"I have no ego when it comes to this.

"I just want to see the country move in the right direction.

"I trust whatever decisions Eduardo and his staff make.

"I think that they have done a great job, from hiring John Calipari to Orlando Antigua."

So who is Sanchez?

He played American college basketball at SUNY-Oneonta and was the State University of New York Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 1996.

That same year, he was the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship Most Valuable Player.

Sanchez graduated in 1997.

He would go on to obtain his masters degree in athletics administration/sports management at Indiana University and serve as a volunteer assistant on the Hoosiers coaching staff before moving to Washington State and spending three years as the coordinator of men's basketball operations there. He then joined the Cougars coaching staff for a three-year stint, with his next move to UVA, a team that has risen to prominence the past two seasons.

His first experience with the Dominican national team was in the summer of 2012 at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, where then national team coach John Calipari trained the squad before the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Calipari was then, and remains the coach of Kentucky, the No. 1 ranked team in the NCAA.

After assisting Antigua, a former assistant coach to Calipari at Kentucky, at the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship, Sanchez travelled with the team last year to Spain and went on a fun ride to the knockout round.

They bounced back from a tournament-opening defeat to Ukraine by beating New Zealand and then Finland.

That was enough for the Dominicans to advance to the Round of 16.

Slovenia ended the Dominicans' run with a 71-61 triumph, but the setback did not take any of the shine off of the national team’s performance.

Sanchez says he will never forget the experience in Spain.

"Being a native of the Dominican Republic and knowing the history of the federation and being able to be a part of a coaching staff that was able to make a push in that tournament that hasn't been done in so long, it was really fulfilling," Sanchez said.

"The hard part is you are so far away from the family for so long but to be able to accomplish our goal (of advancing from the Group Phase) was really fulfilling, and it gave me tremendous pride to be with those guys, the coaching staff and to be together."

The Dominican Republic will participate in the FIBA Americas Championship this summer and attempt to qualify for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

FIBA