Who will take over for Coach K?

By Matthew KitchenOct 22, 2012, 2:52 PM EDT

Rumors are already swirling about who will take Coack Mike Krzyzewski’s spot on the Team USA bench, with Celtics coach Doc Rivers all but running away from the gig this weekend. He told the Boston Globe it was too hard of a job for an NBA coach, and even suggested that Larry Brown was aversely affected by his turn in 2004.

So who’s going to take over for Coach K? Here are the five best college options:

Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) – Boeheim has been the lead assistant on Team USA since 2006 and is the natural choice to take over for Coach K. He has a national championship, three Final Fours, and if he’s still at Syracuse come 2016 he’ll be bordering on 1000 wins. He’ll be 71 in Rio, but he’s still our top choice.

Bill Self (Kansas) – Easily one of the best coaches in the country, regardless of roster. Self already has one NCAA Championship and two Final Fours with Kansas and will likely have a couple more by the next Olympics. At 49 he’s young enough to take over the team for 2016, 2020, and beyond, providing some welcomed continuity.

John Calipari (Kentucky) – For as shady as he often is, Coach Cal wins. Everywhere. He’s unofficially taken three different schools to the Final Four and finally won a championship with Kentucky in 2012. His failed NBA attempts don’t encourage us, but he never really got a fair shot in New Jersey. If basketball went to a 23-and-under format he might be the favorite.

Rick Pitino (Louisville) – Probably a few years late on Pitino, especially after he ruined his above-reproach reputation with some lewd off court headlines. Then again, Pitino made the 2012 Final Four – his sixth. He’s still one of the best basketball minds in the country and his coaching tree would make for a great list of assistants. Still a good option.

Roy Williams (North Carolina) – He’s a hall of fame coach with seven Final Four appearances, so you can’t leave him off the list. Trouble is, Williams is the kind of guy who creates great teams over time and he wouldn’t really have that luxury here. He’s probably not the guy you’re looking for to lead the team, but again: seven Final Fours. He’s a winner.

And just incase Jerry Colangelo disagrees about Rivers’ whole don’t-ruin-my-career-with-patriotism thought process, here are the top three NBA choices:

Tom Thibodeau (Chicago) – Pretty new to head coaching, so we’ll have to wait and see, but the Bulls boss was the fastest NBA coach ever to 100 wins and is one of the best defensive minds in basketball. He was a big reason the Celtics won in 2008 and proves he can do well with an ensemble cast. If he gets his reps and wins over the next four years he could be an ideal choice.

Doug Collins (Philadelphia) – Even though the Bulls were playing without Derrick Rose, we’re still impressed by how the Sixers’ coach dispatched of the east’s top seed in the playoffs. He’d also be a bit of a sentimental pick since a gold in Rio would make up for the one his last second free throws should have secured him in 1972, before the refs got creative and stole the win out from under Team USA.

Gregg Popovich (San Antonio) – Arguably the best basketball coach alive. Popovich has won four NBA titles and the last time he missed the playoffs Bill Clinton had just been reelected. Problem is we just don’t think he’d be into it, especially if he’s rebuilding the Spurs after Tim Duncan’s retirement. To be determined.

Summer McIntosh breaks 400m individual medley world record, extends historic week

By OlympicTalkApr 1, 2023, 7:03 PM EDT

Getty

Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh broke her second world record this week, lowering the 400m individual medley mark on Saturday.

McIntosh, a 16-year-old who trains in Sarasota, Florida, clocked 4 minutes, 25.87 seconds at the Canadian Championships in Toronto.

She took down Hungarian Katinka Hosszu‘s world record of 4:26.36 from the 2016 Rio Olympics. Before Saturday, McIntosh had the fourth-fastest time in history of 4:28.61.

“It’s always nice to set world records,” McIntosh said.

On Tuesday, McIntosh broke the 400m freestyle world record, becoming the youngest swimmer to break a world record in an individual Olympic event since Katie Ledecky in 2013.

McIntosh also this week became the fourth-fastest woman in history in the 200m individual medley and the eighth-fastest woman in history in the 200m butterfly.

In each of her four races this week, she also broke the world junior record as the fastest woman in history under the age of 19.

She is entered to swim the 200m free on the meet’s final day on Sunday. She is already the eighth-fastest woman in history in that event.

McIntosh, whose mom swam the 1984 Olympic 200m fly and whose sister competed at last week’s world figure skating championships, placed fourth in the Tokyo Olympic 400m free at age 14.

Last summer, she won the 200m fly and 400m IM at the world championships, becoming the youngest individual world champion since 2011.

This summer, she could be at the center of a showdown in the 400m free at the world championships with reigning world champion Ledecky and reigning Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus of Australia. They are the three fastest women in history in the event.

Around age 7, McIntosh transcribed Ledecky quotes and put them on her wall.

MORE: McIntosh chose swimming and became Canada’s big splash

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nbcolympictalk

Hilary Knight leads new-look U.S. women’s hockey roster for world championship

By OlympicTalkApr 1, 2023, 9:02 AM EDT

Getty

Hilary Knight headlines a U.S. women’s hockey roster for this month’s world championship that lacks some of the biggest names from last year’s Olympic silver-medal team. Changes have been made as the U.S. looks to end losing streaks to Canada, both overall and in major finals.

The full roster is here. Worlds start Wednesday in Brampton, Ontario, and run through the gold-medal game on April 16.

It was already known that the team would be without stalwart forwards Kendall Coyne Schofield, who plans to return to the national team after having her first child this summer, and Brianna Decker, who announced her retirement last month.

Notable cuts include the No. 1 goalies from the last two Olympics: Alex Cavallini, who returned from Christmas childbirth for the tryout camp this past week, and Maddie Rooney, the breakout of the 2018 Olympic champion team.

Cavallini, 31, was bidding to become the first player to make an Olympic or world team after childbirth since Jenny Potter, who played at the Olympics in 2002, 2006 and 2010 as a mom, plus at several world championships, including less than three months after childbirth in 2007.

Forward Hannah Brandt, who played on the top line at last year’s Olympics with Knight and Coyne Schofield, also didn’t make the team.

In all, 13 of the 25 players on the team are Olympians, including three-time Olympic medalists forward Amanda Kessel and defender Lee Stecklein.

The next generation includes forward Taylor Heise, 23, who led the 2022 World Championship with seven goals and was the 2022 NCAA Player of the Year at Minnesota.

The team includes two teens — 19-year-old defender Haley Winn and 18-year-old forward Tessa Janecke — who were also the only teens at last week’s 46-player tryout camp. Janecke, a Penn State freshman, is set to become the youngest U.S. forward to play at an Olympics or worlds since Brandt in 2012.

Abbey Levy, a 6-foot-1 goalie from Boston College, made her first world team, joining veterans Nicole Hensley and Aerin Frankel.

Last summer, Canada repeated as world champion by beating the U.S. in the final, six months after beating the U.S. in the Olympic final. Canada is on its longest global title streak since winning all five Olympic or world titles between 1999 and 2004.

Also at last summer’s worlds, the 33-year-old Knight broke the career world championship record for points (now up to 89). She also has the most goals in world championship history (53). Knight, already the oldest U.S. Olympic women’s hockey player in history, will become the second-oldest American to play at a worlds after Cammi Granato, who was 34 at her last worlds in 2005.

The Canadians are on a four-game win streak versus the Americans, capping a comeback in their recent seven-game rivalry series from down three games to none. Their 5-0 win in the decider in February was their largest margin of victory over the U.S. since 2005.

Last May, former AHL coach John Wroblewski was named U.S. head coach to succeed Joel Johnson, the Olympic coach.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nbcolympictalk

More: Olympics

More: Olympics