Coach K reiterates he won't return to lead US

Mike Krzyzewski said again on Tuesday he doesn't plan to return as US men's basketball coach after leading the Americans to two Olympic gold medals.

Saying: "My stance hasn't changed," Krzyzewski told ESPN Radio he expects USA Basketball to name a new coach this summer.

The Hall of Fame Duke coach said during and after last summer's Olympics that he wasn't planning to return to the position he's held with the national team since 2005. However, he still hasn't confirmed that decision with USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo, who has said they will talk after the college season.

"I've loved, loved, loved, and it's been an honor being with the USA Basketball team," Krzyzewski said in the interview. "And to coach the team and work with Jerry these seven years has been marvelous.

"And we're in a good spot," Krzyzewski said. "We need to keep building."

Krzyzewski led the Americans to Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012, and a world basketball championship in 2010. The Americans also won bronze at the 2006 worlds, their first tournament under his guidance, and haven't lost a game since.

The Americans automatically qualified for the 2014 World Cup of Basketball in Spain by winning gold in London. Colangelo originally said he planned to name a new coach around the new year, but put off those plans so he could talk to Krzyzewski once the Blue Devils' season was finished.

The delay created speculation Krzyzewski was open to a return, but he told ESPN Radio that USA Basketball wouldn't make an announcement during the season, anyway.

If Krzyzewski is indeed finished, Colangelo will first have to determine if he wants to stay with a college coach or go back to someone from the NBA. Before Krzyzewski, the Americans had been led by someone from the pros since 1992, when NBA players were first allowed to play in the Olympics.

But after a bronze medal finish in 2004, two years after an embarrassing sixth-place performance in the worlds, Colangelo was given control of USA Basketball and hired Krzyzewski, who has been on the staff of 12 U.S. teams since 1979.

(China Daily 02/28/2013 page23)