Dec 7, 2021
Mechelle VoepelESPN.com
CloseMechelle Voepel covers the WNBA, women’s college basketball, and other college sports for espnW. Voepel began covering women’s basketball in 1984, and has been with ESPN since 1996.
USA Basketball has named Minnesota Lynx coach and general manager Cheryl Reeve as its next women’s national team coach, it was announced Wednesday.
Reeve, 55, was an assistant coach for the U.S. team that won gold medals in the past two Olympics (2016, 2020) and FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cups (2014, 2018), working with head coaches Geno Auriemma and then Dawn Staley during that time.
“I am incredibly humbled and excited to be named head coach of the USA Basketball Women’s National Team, one of the greatest dynasties in sports,” Reeve said. “I have enjoyed an incredible journey with USA Basketball since joining in 2014 and look forward to what lies ahead as we seek more gold for the USA.
“I am indebted to the USA Basketball board of directors, Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma, and of course, my Lynx family who have positioned me for this prestigious opportunity.”
Reeve will now guide the U.S. team through the next Olympic cycle heading toward the Paris Games in 2024. That cycle includes the 2022 FIBA World Cup from Sept. 22 to Oct. 1 in Sydney.
Team USA, which won its seventh consecutive gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics this past summer, will also host a four-team qualifying tournament for the World Cup in February that includes Russia, Belgium and Puerto Rico.
USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley and women’s national team director Briana Weiss were at the announcement. Weiss took over in October for Carol Callan, who stepped down from that post after 26 years following the Tokyo Olympics but is still president of FIBA Americas.
“What I’ve learned with working with Cheryl and getting to know her over several years is that when you get Cheryl involved, you get all of her,” Tooley said. “She’s engaged. She’s committed, and her passion and enthusiasm are contagious.”
Reeve has been with the Lynx since 2010, winning four WNBA titles (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) and making the WNBA Finals two other times (2012, 2016). Reeve also was part of the Detroit Shock’s 2006 and 2008 WNBA championship teams as an assistant coach. She first joined the league in 2001 with the Charlotte Sting, who made the WNBA Finals that season.
Reeve follows two college head coaches in UConn’s Auriemma and South Carolina’s Staley (who played eight seasons in the WNBA) in leading the national team. Other U.S. women’s national team head coaches who have coached in the WNBA are current Georgia Tech coach Nell Fortner, Van Chancellor and the late Anne Donovan.
“I think what we’ve done for many years has been really successful. It will serve me well to listen to what has worked,” Reeve said. “From a coaching stand point, what I witnessed is that coaches have to come in and be themselves. I’ve had good fortune to be around that and see what does and doesn’t work.”
The U.S. is in a bit of transition with five-time Olympic gold medalist Sue Bird retiring from international play. Her backcourt partner for all those gold medals, Diana Taurasi, hasn’t decided whether she will keep playing for USA Basketball or retire as well.
Four-time Olympic gold medalist Sylvia Fowles, who plays for Reeve in Minnesota, also said she is retiring from USA Basketball. The Americans still will have a dominant interior presence with Brittney Griner, A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart.
Reeve knows there’s a wealth of talent in the U.S. team pool.
“I think with the start of a new quad it means a fresh look at the pool for the committee,” Reeve said. “I’ll have a list of people from my experiences with USAB and the WNBA. Each time you do this, the pool starts over. That will be interesting. There are a lot of good players in the WNBA regardless of position.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.