Anne Donovan and Mike Krzyzewski share USA Basketball honor

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USA Basketball on Thursday chose U.S. Olympic Team head coaches Anne Donovan and Mike Krzyzewski as co-recipients of the 2008 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year award.

Donovan and Krzyzewski coached their respective U.S. men’s and women’s basketball teams to perfect records and gold medals during the Beijing Games. The gold medals secured automatic berths for both U.S. teams in the 2010 FIBA World Championship tournaments.

Donovan and Krzyzewski also shared the award in 2007. Donovan won Olympic gold medals as a player in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics and also won a gold in 2004 as an assistant coach.

‘I take great pride in the award, but it’s certainly not just for me,’ Donovan told USA Basketball. ‘It’s a culmination of a lot of hard work by our players, the assistant coaches and the USA Basketball staff, who stuck through a very difficult three-year period of transition in our Women’s National Team program.

‘Our success was achieved through hard work and teamwork,’ Krzyzewski told USA Basketball. ‘Everyone -- Managing Director Jerry Colangelo, my coaching staff -- Jim Boeheim, Mike D’Antoni and Nate McMillan -- the support staff, and, of course, the players, had a hand in helping the team win Olympic gold.

Past USA Basketball National Coach of the Year award winners include: Gail Goestenkors (2005); Van Chancellor (2004, 2002); Larry Brown (2003, 1999); Jim Boeheim (2001); Nell Fortner (2000); Clem Haskins (1998); Mo McHone (1997); and Tara VanDerveer (1996).

USA Basketball plans to nominate Donovan and Krzyzewski for the U.S. Olympic Committee’s 2008 National Coach of the Year award, which will be presented in the spring.

-- Greg Johnson

Photo credits: U.S. Olympic Committee