NewsWhore
05-06-2011, 04:40 PM
Kentucky University's John Calipari, ranked third in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, has accepted to coach the Dominican Republic national team for its attempt to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. The initiative is being coordinated by Southgate Sports, a Dominican sports management company that has taken on the responsibility for preparing the team for FIBA's upcoming Tournament of the Americas (30 August - 11 September 2011. The top two teams to advance to the 2012 Olympics in London, Funding Southgate are the Bonetti, Vicini and Najri families.
Dominican Basketball Federation general manager Eduardo Najri made the announcement in Santo Domingo on Thursday and Calipari posted his comments on his website.
There is a lot of work ahead. The 2009 team that competed in the FIBA Americas championships included Atlanta forward Al Horford (Atlanta Hawks) and Sacramento swingman Francisco Garcia. The team finished fifth in the tournament with a 4-4 record. A key player who will join the Dominican team would be Charlie Villanueva (Detroit Pistons). On his Twitter page, Villanueva welcomed Coach Calipari saying it would be a real honor to play for him and naming the initiative Project Gold.
Calipari announced that the plan was to hold a mini-camp in Lexington, Kentucky at the beginning of August with some of the Dominican Republic's emerging young stars, most of whom are already playing American college basketball, including Kentucky's Eloy Vargas. The mini-camp will precede the team's official training camp that will include the veterans.
Kentucky fans are invited to a planned exhibition game at Rupp Arena vs. former Cats and former Kentucky players.
The team will play another exhibition in the Dominican Republic before heading to Foz do Iguazu, Brazil for the Jenaro "Tuto" Marchand Continental Cup (24-26 August) and will practice at the University of Kentucky state-of-the-art Joe Craft Center before the tournament.
The next stop is Mar del Plata, Argentina for the FIBA Americas Championship for Men/Olympic Qualifying Tournament (30 August - 11 September) for a chance at playing in the 2012 Olympics.
Nevertheless, Calipari said that the involvement goes beyond the bid for the team to make the Olympics. His decision to work through Southgate comes because of the entity's commitment to re-energizing Dominican Republic basketball by building a solid grassroots program and training Dominican coaches, much like through the entity he has been helping with basketball in China. "Beyond that, this will be a great learning experience for me to be able to coach against some of the best minds in international basketball," he said.
Southgate owns the Leones del Escogido baseball team in the Dominican Republic Professional League (LIDOM), the Leones de Santo Domingo Basketball team in the Dominican professional basketball league (LNB), and the San Juan Senators in the Puerto Rican professional baseball league (PRBBL).
"Southgate and the Dominican Republic welcome Coach Calipari to the team," Eduardo Najri said. "Not only are we excited about Coach's experience on the court, but we also look forward to having him help us develop our grass roots efforts in the Dominican Republic.
"Coach Cal's commitment to our team, and our country marks a definite "before and after" for Dominican Basketball. I can guarantee that the University of Kentucky has just increased its fan base by about 10 million basketball-loving fans."
www.coachcal.com/2011/05/05/coach-cal-officially-accepts-offer-to-coach-dominican-national-team (http://www.coachcal.com/2011/05/05/coach-cal-officially-accepts-offer-to-coach-dominican-national-team)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)
Dominican Basketball Federation general manager Eduardo Najri made the announcement in Santo Domingo on Thursday and Calipari posted his comments on his website.
There is a lot of work ahead. The 2009 team that competed in the FIBA Americas championships included Atlanta forward Al Horford (Atlanta Hawks) and Sacramento swingman Francisco Garcia. The team finished fifth in the tournament with a 4-4 record. A key player who will join the Dominican team would be Charlie Villanueva (Detroit Pistons). On his Twitter page, Villanueva welcomed Coach Calipari saying it would be a real honor to play for him and naming the initiative Project Gold.
Calipari announced that the plan was to hold a mini-camp in Lexington, Kentucky at the beginning of August with some of the Dominican Republic's emerging young stars, most of whom are already playing American college basketball, including Kentucky's Eloy Vargas. The mini-camp will precede the team's official training camp that will include the veterans.
Kentucky fans are invited to a planned exhibition game at Rupp Arena vs. former Cats and former Kentucky players.
The team will play another exhibition in the Dominican Republic before heading to Foz do Iguazu, Brazil for the Jenaro "Tuto" Marchand Continental Cup (24-26 August) and will practice at the University of Kentucky state-of-the-art Joe Craft Center before the tournament.
The next stop is Mar del Plata, Argentina for the FIBA Americas Championship for Men/Olympic Qualifying Tournament (30 August - 11 September) for a chance at playing in the 2012 Olympics.
Nevertheless, Calipari said that the involvement goes beyond the bid for the team to make the Olympics. His decision to work through Southgate comes because of the entity's commitment to re-energizing Dominican Republic basketball by building a solid grassroots program and training Dominican coaches, much like through the entity he has been helping with basketball in China. "Beyond that, this will be a great learning experience for me to be able to coach against some of the best minds in international basketball," he said.
Southgate owns the Leones del Escogido baseball team in the Dominican Republic Professional League (LIDOM), the Leones de Santo Domingo Basketball team in the Dominican professional basketball league (LNB), and the San Juan Senators in the Puerto Rican professional baseball league (PRBBL).
"Southgate and the Dominican Republic welcome Coach Calipari to the team," Eduardo Najri said. "Not only are we excited about Coach's experience on the court, but we also look forward to having him help us develop our grass roots efforts in the Dominican Republic.
"Coach Cal's commitment to our team, and our country marks a definite "before and after" for Dominican Basketball. I can guarantee that the University of Kentucky has just increased its fan base by about 10 million basketball-loving fans."
www.coachcal.com/2011/05/05/coach-cal-officially-accepts-offer-to-coach-dominican-national-team (http://www.coachcal.com/2011/05/05/coach-cal-officially-accepts-offer-to-coach-dominican-national-team)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)