Report: Cheryl Reeve to be next Head Coach of USA Basketball Women’s National Team

Minnesota Lynx head coach and general manager Cheryl Reeve will be the next head coach of the USA Basketball Women’s National Team, according to the Associated Press. She takes over for current University of South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, who led Team USA to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Staley had served as the National Team’s head coach since March 10, 2017.

“She can handle this position quite well, and she’ll demand and command respect from the players,” Staley told the Star Tribune after stepping down as National Team head coach in August. “What she can bring to the table is unmatched. So she’d get my nod, for sure.”

A formal introduction is scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at 10 AM central time in the Target Center lobby, where Reeve will be named head coach and share the stage with USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley and USA Basketball Women’s National Team director Briana Weiss.

Reeve getting the job signals USA Basketball agrees with her assertion that a WNBA coach should lead a team comprised of WNBA players.

“It’s all WNBA players [on the roster], I would like to see a WNBA coach lead the next team if Dawn is truly done. That’s probably the extent of what I’d say on it,” Reeve said to the Star Tribune in August.

Reeve has been a highly decorated assistant coach with Team USA since 2014. She won her fifth gold medal overall on the bench for Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics, alongside Lynx players Sylvia Fowles (who won her fourth Olympic gold medal with Team USA) and first-time Olympic gold medalist Napheesa Collier.

Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images

The legendary Lynx coach previously won golds at the 2014 FIBA World Cup, 2016 Rio Olympics, 2018 FIBA World Cup, and 2019 AmeriCup. She holds an impressive record of 41-1 in official Team USA competition as an assistant coach. Reeve will now get her shot to lead her country into the 2022 FIBA World Cup next September in Australia and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Reeve’s leadership and vision will be especially important and impactful for the program, because the team will likely move forward without longtime pillars and five-time Olympic gold medalists Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, as well as Fowles, a four-time Olympic gold medalist.

Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images

Despite that, you can be sure the team will be more than well-equipped to defend their FIBA World Cup and Olympic golds under the four-time WNBA champion coach and two-time WNBA coach of the year.

From all of us at Canis Hoopus, congratulations, Coach Reeve!