“I’m really honored that the Dominican federation and Eduardo Najri and Jose Miguel Bonetti have once again asked me to coach their national team,

[William F Hansford]

Calipari will attempt to guide the Caribbean nation to its first-ever Olympics after leading the Dominican Republic to the doorstep last summer.

“This country is very excited to have Coach Cal back,” said Najri, general manager of the Dominican Republic National Team. “We were following closely during the NCAA Tournament and he had 10 million followers rooting for him in the Dominican Republic. The fact that he’s going to join us again is a great honor and we look forward to finishing what we started last year in Argentina.”

“To have a coach of Coach Cal’s experience is a luxury for our country, said Rafael Uribe, the Dominican Basketball Federation president.

With Coach Cal at the helm last summer, the Dominicans captured the bronze medal at the FIBA Americas Championship in Mar del Plata, Argentina. While clinching an automatic berth to this summer’s Olympics qualifier, the Dominican Republic defeated archrival Puerto Rico and world power Brazil.

“Our goal was to become the best team we could be and in turn reach the Olympics,” Calipari said. “Our team had the best finish in the history of the country and we felt like we became the best team we could be, but we fell just short of qualifying for the Olympics. I think all of us, as a staff and a team, feel like we have some unfinished business.”


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http://www.coachcal.com/14449/2012/05/calipari-accepts-offer-to-coach-dominican-republic-team/