Kevin Ollie will assist Shaka Smart on 2016 U18 national team

Kevin Ollie and Maryland's Mark Turgeon will be assistants to Shaka Smart on the 2016 USA men's basketball U18 national tteam this summer in Chile. Here's the press release:

University of Texas head coach Shaka Smart will guide the 2016 USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team in its quest for a fourth straight U18 gold medal, along with USA assistant coaches Kevin Ollie of the University of Connecticut and Mark Turgeon of Maryland.

The trio will lead the USA at the 2016 FIBA Americas U18 Championship July 19-23 in Valdivia, Chile. Not only is a gold medal at stake, the top four finishing teams will earn a qualifying berth in the 2017.

“With his experience from the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship and the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship, Shaka Smart is an excellent choice to lead the 2016 USA U18 National Team,” said Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), chair of the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee, which selected the USA coaching staff. “Coach Smart and assistant coaches Kevin Ollie and Mark Turgeon are very successful head coaches at the college level, and the USA team will be completely prepared to compete for the gold."

Smart helped USA Basketball teams to gold medals at the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship and the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship. Overall as a USA Basketball assistant coach, Smart is 14-0. 

In his first season as head coach for the University of Texas in 2015-16, Smart led his team to a 20-13 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance. Prior to that, he was a head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University for six seasons (2009-10 to 2014-15), where he compiled a 163-56 record (.744 winning percentage) and made five NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 2011 Final Four. 

He also has 10 seasons of experience as an assistant coach at five different schools, and as an assistant coach, he has an all-time record of 220-97 (.694 winning percentage).

“It’s a tremendous honor to coach the USA U18 National Team and represent our country in international play,” Smart said. “The opportunity to work with Kevin Ollie and Mark Turgeon is something I’m extremely excited about. They are two of the best coaches in the country, and I’m looking forward to learning a lot."

In 2015-16, Ollie led Connecticut to a 25-11 record, an American Athletic Conference Tournament title and the NCAA Tournament second round. In four seasons overall as the Huskies head coach, he owns a 97-44 record (.688 winning percentage), including winning the 2014 NCAA National Championship.

He was an assistant coach for two seasons at Connecticut (2010-11 and 2011-12), during which time the Huskies were 52-23 (.693 winning percentage) and won the 2011 NCAA Championship.

“It is an honor and a privilege to be a part of USA Basketball,” Ollie said. “Any time you are asked to  represent your country, especially in a worldwide competition, it comes with a tremendous sense of pride and responsibility. I am grateful to be asked to help mold these outstanding young men into a team that can compete."