Geno Auriemma is familiar with his assistant coaches for the world championship this fall.
DePaul’s Doug Bruno, South Carolina’s Dawn Staley and Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve will help him coach the U.S. women’s basketball national team, USA Basketball announced Monday.
Bruno and Staley become the fourth and fifth U.S. coaches to serve twice as assistants at the world championship. Reeve joins for the first time.
“Overall, I think we’ve got a great mix,” said Auriemma, who returns for his second straight four-year term as national team coach. “We certainly have enough experience, both USA Basketball-wise, college, pro.
“We have some continuity with Doug back. We have an opportunity to bring in some younger coaches, who hopefully aspire down the road to be head coaches at USA Basketball. They’re proven winners.”
The U.S. national team will kick off its training for the worlds in early September at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The world championship begins on Sept. 27 in Istanbul.
Bruno worked with Auriemma the past four years and helped the U.S. team win gold at the 2010 world championship and 2012 London Olympics. He guided DePaul to a Big East regular season and tournament championship before losing in the NCAA regional semifinals this season.
“I’m always excited and always flattered to coach USA Basketball at any level,” Bruno said. “But then, when it’s the USA national team, being given the opportunity to coach the best players in the world and getting to coach with the best coaches in the world, I’m just overwhelmed.”
South Carolina coach Staley was an assistant for the 2006 world team and 2008 Beijing Olympics. As a player, she won two world championship and three Olympic gold medals. As a coach, led the Gamecocks to their first SEC regular-season championship and No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament in March.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back into the USA Basketball network,” Staley said. “It’s reliving some of the best days of my life. To be able to work with Geno, Doug and Cheryl, it’s going to open me up as a coach to learn different things.”
Reeve guided the Lynx to two WNBA titles in the past three seasons and coaches 2012 Olympians Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen.
“To have three Philly people on the staff is kind of cool,” she said of Staley and Auriemma. “I think Geno will like that input of maybe some things that we do at our level, whether it’s offensively or defensively.”
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