USA Basketball named Anne Donovan and Mike Krzyzewski, the United States Olympic Team head coaches, as co-recipients of the 2008 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year award on Friday in Colorado Springs.
Donovan and Krzyzewski coached their respective women's and men's USA team to a perfect record in Beijing last summer, securing the USA two Olympic gold medals and automatic berths into the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
Donovan became the first person in USA Basketball history to be a part of Olympic gold medal winning teams as both athlete and head coach. She has already clinched Olympic gold medals as a player in 1984 and 1988 and as an assistant coach in 2004.
"I take great pride in the award, but it's certainly not just for me," said Donovan.
Krzyzewski, also made USA Basketball history as the first coach to receive the award in three consecutive years.
The 2008 Women's National Team captured the USA's fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal, making it the first traditional women's team sport to do so in Olympic history, while the USA men reclaimed the No. 1 spot after an eight-year absence atop the podium in major international competitions.
USA Basketball also will nominate Donovan and Krzyzewski for the U.S. Olympic Committee's 2008 National Coach of the Year award, which is expected to be announced in the spring.
(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2009)
