By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Grant Hill will succeed Jerry Colangelo as managing director of USA Basketball after the Tokyo Olympics, it was officially announced.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the talks have been ongoing for several months on Hill taking over Colangelo after the Tokyo Olympics. Adam Silver was a major proponent of Hill’s candidacy. For starters, Hill will be tasked with selecting the next USA coach post-Gregg Popovich.
Per USA Basketball:
Olympic gold medalist and 19-year NBA standout Grant Hill was approved today by the USA Basketball Board of Directors as the next managing director of the USA Men’s National Team. Hill will succeed current managing director Jerry Colangelo after the Tokyo Olympics.
“It is a tremendous honor to serve as managing director of USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team. I am looking forward to working with the USA Basketball staff and Board of Directors to lead this organization so uniquely positioned for continued growth and for developing and promoting our top talent in events around the world,” said Hill. “As a member of the 1996 Dream Team, I know the thrill and responsibility it is to represent our country. I am confident USA Basketball will continue to showcase the top talent and highest character players in our country.”
“We are very excited that Grant Hill will join USA Basketball as our USA Men’s National Team managing director. Grant is a proven leader of consequence and character who will continue to help us achieve on our twin goals of winning international competitions and representing our country with honor” said USA Basketball Board of Directors chair and retired General Martin Dempsey. “In making this announcement, I also want to emphasize how much everyone associated with USA Basketball appreciates Jerry Colangelo for everything he did for USA Basketball over the past 15 years.”
Taking control in 2005 of a USA National Team that hadn’t won a major international competition since 2000, Colangelo rebuilt the program from the bottom up. Under Colangelo, the USA men have compiled a remarkable 97-4 overall record and have claimed top honors in six of eight FIBA or FIBA Americas competitions, including Olympic championships in 2008, 2012 and 2016.
Hill played for five USA Basketball teams, won two gold medals and one bronze medal and compiled an overall record of 26-1 (.963 winning percentage). He was a member of the gold medalist 1996 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team and the 5-0 1996 USA National Team. Hill as a collegian was a part of the 1992 USA Developmental Team that trained against the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team, the bronze medalist 1991 USA Pan American Games Team and the gold medalist 1990 USA U18 Championship Team.
Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 2018, Hill’s NBA career covered 19 seasons, and he was a seven-time NBA All-Star and a five-time All-NBA selection. Drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the third overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft, Hill was named the 1994-95 NBA Co-Rookie of the Year.
Playing 1,026 NBA games, and starting in 972 of those games, Hill compiled 17,137 points, 6,169 rebounds, 4,252 assists, 1,248 steals. He finished his career as one of 17 players in NBA history to record over 17,000 points, 6,000 rebounds, and 4,000 assists.
In four NCAA seasons at Duke University, he helped lead the Blue Devils to back-to-back NCAA national titles in 1991 and 1992 and a runner-up finish in 1994. Hill compiled 1,924 points, 771 rebounds, 461 assists, 218 steals during his collegiate career and was named All-American in 1994, the 1993 NABC Defensive Player of the Year, the 1994 ACC Player of the Year, and he was a three-time All-ACC selection. Hill became the first player in ACC history to collect more than 1,900 points, 700 rebounds, 400 assists, 200 steals, and 100 blocked shots.