Colangelo re-elected USA Basketball chairman
by Jeff ZIllgitt, USA TODAY Sports
USA Basketball remains in qualified and competent hands at the top.
Jerry Colangelo on Tuesday was re-elected chairman of USA Basketball’s board of directors for 2013 to 2016, a period which includes the 2014 men’s FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain and women’s World Cup in Turkey and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Colangelo has transformed the U.S. men’s team after a disappointing bronze medal and disinterested effort at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Since Colangelo joined USA Basketball in 2005 as managing director of the men’s national team, the U.S. men are 62-1 with gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2010 world championships and 2012 London Olympics. The men did not lose a game at those three events under Colangelo and U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“I’m excited to again serve USA Basketball as chairman for the next four years,” Colangelo in a statement. “I’m proud of the many successes USA Basketball’s coaches and players achieved over the past four years, and I’m looking forward to helping keep that momentum going. We were not only successful in competitions, but in the manner in which everyone associated with USA Basketball represented our country on and away from the court. We focused on showing the utmost respect for the competitions and for our international opponents.”
Colangelo’s influence has reached the women’s team and junior teams, and he has made it important for young players to participate in USA Basketball early. Colangelo is a big believer in equity, and commitment to USA Basketball at a young age is meaningful to Colangelo. Today’s junior players are “our future Olympians,” Colangelo told USA TODAY Sports in July after the USA won the Under-17 boys world championship in Lithuania.
The women’s program was in great shape before Colangelo became chairman in 2009, and that success has continued. The women won gold again in London, their fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal, and they extended their Olympic winning streak to 41 games.
Also Tuesday, USA Basketball named its board for 2013-16: NBA senior vice president of international basketball operations Kim Bohuny (NBA representative); University of Texas women’s athletics director Chris … [For more on Colangelo re-elected as USA Basketball chairman, click here.]
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