Will Krzyzewski coach USA in 2016?

Although USA men's basketball head coach Mike Krzyzyewski has publicly stated the 2012 Olympics will be his last as the national team head coach, Jerry Colangelo still hopes the man affectionally called Coach K might return to coach for the 2016 games.

Colangelo, the managing director of the USA basketball program, hired Krzyzewski, also the Duke basketball head coach, in 2005 to coach Team USA.

From the Associated Press via ESPN:

LONDON -- Jerry Colangelo hasn't given up on Mike Krzyzewski returning as U.S. men's Olympic basketball coach after the London Games.

Krzyzewski has said he believes this will be his last time coaching the national team. Colangelo said Monday he thinks that is probably true, however, the USA Basketball chairman added he's "not 100 percent sure" Krzyzewski is done.

"I know what he's said so far and that may be the case and maybe not," Colangelo said. "And I'm kind of thinking that he's probably not going to come back unless he changes his mind.

"If he's finished coaching, I'm going to keep him involved and he's going to be right alongside me. That's the way I see it and then we'll talk about who's next."

But not before he takes another run at the coach.

Colangelo said he will discuss the future with Krzyzewski at an appropriate time to see "what his circumstances truly are" before considering a successor.

When The Chronicle had the chance for a one-on-one interview with Krzyzewski in June, prior to him departing for pre-Olympics training in Las Vegas, what did Krzyzewski have to say about the topic?

Krzyzewski said he announced his intentions to step down as head coach following the 2012 Olympics to avoid just this--people speculating about the future.

"The reason I said the thing for USA basketball is so I could just focus on London and when people were asking questions—people always like to ask about the future, which is fine—I eliminate that right away," the 65-year-old head coach said.