Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski blasts Coach K for using Team USA as a recruiting advantage
I don't think any of us are huge Mike Krzylwkjearieski fans around here, to the point that I'm too lazy to bother looking up the correct spelling of his name. This morning, Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski posted a piece slamming Coach K for using his job as the head coach of Team USA to benefit Duke in recruiting, and Team USA's participating in the FIBA World Cup, a tournament that he says has "outlived its usefulness for the NBA." Woj writes that after Paul George's injury, Team USA's participation in the FIBA World Cup "was in vain," and really only benefitted Coach K, who "taps into every element" of USA Basketball to recruit for Duke:
Woj even goes as far to call NBA commissioner Adam Silver "another Dukie thrilled about how this partnership has closed the gap on Calipari and Kentucky, and gone a long way toward burying the North Carolina Tar Heels." Wow. A part of me is thrilled to read Coach K, viewed by most in the national media as a holy figure, get slammed like this, but the more rational side of me is fine with Coach K using Team USA as a recruiting advantage. Who wouldn't? Woj points to Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow's commitments to Duke after participating in the 2013 under-19 USA Basketball national team as particularly damning evidence, but didn't Cal essentially do the same thing with Karl Towns? We all know if Cal was the Team USA head coach (and one day, he may be...), he'd do the same thing. And who could blame him? An interesting read, nonetheless. Go check it out. [NBA needs to pull stars from USA Basketball, which is showcasing only Duke's coach]When Team USA goes to the U.S. Military Academy to practice on its pre-tournament tour, guess what the stories are: Krzyzewski returns to his West Point roots. There's Coach K with the cadets. There's Coach K in the mess hall. There's Coach K teaching those rich NBA players about sacrifice and selflessness. People call Calipari the greatest self-promoting coach of his time, but Krzyzewski doesn't get nearly the credit due him. USA Basketball is a machine with its tentacles deep into every level of basketball, and Krzyzewski taps into every element.
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