Rick Pitino confirmed that he’ll be coaching the Greek national basketball team through a brief statement on Twitter.
Really honored to be coaching the Greek National team. Have a lot of work and preparation ahead but I’m looking forward to the challenge.
— Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) November 8, 2019
The American coach has previously lead the Athens club Panathinaikos to a league title and cup win during his one year stint which ended in February.
Pitino will have to navigate the qualifying phase for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics which will take place next summer. Eight countries have already qualified with four additional countries set to join through four qualifying tournaments.
Pitino also added the following:
“We are going to discuss the logistics on Monday, but obviously it is a great honor for me to accept this position” the 67-year-old American explained, “I’ll spend most of the winter once the brackets are announced, studying the film and going to work.”
Thanasis Skourtopoulos, Greece’s previous head coach, is reportedly set to remain in the national team setup as part of Pitino’s team staff.
