USA - Coach K to stick with Team USA for FIBA World Championship

LAS VEGAS (2010 FIBA World Championship) - The lure of international basketball was too strong for Mike Krzyzewski to just walk away.

USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo on Tuesday announced the Olympic gold medal-winning coach will return to lead the team not only into the FIBA World Championship in 2010 but also the 2012 Olympic Games.

The Hall of Fame Duke University coach guided the USA to Olympic glory in Beijing last year.

USA Basketball will return the full coaching staff from those Games, as Jim Boeheim, Mike D'Antoni and Nate McMillan will continue as assistants.

"It was a huge honor to be selected as the USA National team coach the first time," Krzyzewski said. "It is still a huge honor. The experience of being the head coach of the USA National Team for three summers was the best experience I've ever had in coaching."

At 62 years of age and with a full-time job at Duke to contend with, Krzyzewski admitted he had to take his time before committing once again to the USA cause, but ultimately he followed his heart.

"Emotionally, when Jerry (Colangelo) asked me, I wanted to say, 'Yes, of course, are you kidding me?'" he said.

"But I wanted to analyse the situation. I'm 62-years-old. What do I want to do with coaching? How does it have an impact? I wanted to put some intellectualism into it and not just go with emotion."

But emotion clearly played a big role too. In his press conference, Krzyzewski compared the USA Basketball program to a family, from the youth teams through to the senior set-up, and that is not something he wanted to walk away from.

"I know the guys that played for us in Beijing, they became part of our family," he said. "Why wouldn't you want to do it again if you're doing something with your family?

"That's the atmosphere we're trying to develop. It is good to go in again because it is a home away from home. It's a huge honor."

There is also a sense of unfinished business for Krzyzewski, who has two bronze medals from FIBA World Championships (1990 and 2006), but no gold.

"Wanting to win the World Championship, it's not because I've been part of two where we didn't win, it's not that, it's because it's the next thing and we want to create a situation where anything we're in, any game we play, it's about the gold medal and it's about respect.

"We don't want to be judged by one Olympics, but be judged on a body of work, not just a single event. You don't do just one course, you do it to get a degree.

"That group of Olympians in Beijing was a group of great guys and I think they understand their job isn't over yet."

Colangelo added that he believes the loss to Greece in the FIBA World Championship semi-finals three years ago helped spark the turnaround in the USA Basketball program that has put it back on top.

But now there remains the issue of winning a FIBA World Championship for the first time since 1994. That, Colangelo said, will require a culture change in a country that has traditionally put the emphasis on the Olympics.

"The world does look at the World Championship different than the US has done historically," he said. "In conversations with our players before the (NBA) All-Star break, we agreed that our job isn't over yet and we need to seek to win the World Championship.

"It's about showing respect to the basketball community around the world. We do take it seriously."

Krzyzewski added that the USA job does nothing to dampen his enthusiasm to continue at Duke, where he is about to begin a 30th season with the Blue Devils.

Describing a conversation he had held with Duke athletic director Kevin White, Krzyzewski said: "He asked me, 'What does it do to your shelf life at Duke?' and I said, 'It keeps me on the shelf longer at Duke'. He said in that case I'm all for it.

"I think it makes me a better coach and energy-wise I feel really good."

Since 2006, Krzyzewski and his assistants have a 36-1 record with the national team, the only loss that against Greece in Japan as they were forced to settle for bronze.

Krzyzewski, who also has three national titles and and 760-215 record in 29 seasons at Duke, has been a member of 12 USA coaching staffs, working at 11 different international competitions with a combined record of 90-7.

In all, the former protege of college coaching legend Bob Knight has won seven gold medals, two silver medals and two bronze medals.

As he wrapped up his press conference, Krzyzewski was presented with a USA jersey - sized XL so they could fit on it his full name - bearing the number 12, signifying the Olympic target in three years time.

That target is simple - Krzyzewski is only interested in adding to the gold in his collection.

"Our goals are the same," he said. "It's a new gold medal we're going to pursue in 2010 and a new gold medal we're going to pursue in 2012. The other two aspects we'll bring are respect for our country and respect for the world."

FIBA