Could Gonzaga’s Mark Few coach Team USA in 2028? ‘He would be the face of college basketball'

‘I would not be surprised if coach Few gets very, very strong consideration to lead the men’s national team in the very near future,’ said Dan Dickau

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

On the heels of Team USA's fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal in men's basketball, there’s already speculation about who will be on the roster four years from now for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

The top three scorers for the Americans in the tournament — Stephen Curry (36 years old), LeBron James (39) and Kevin Durant (35) — will have likely passed down the torch down to the next generation of hoopers by the next Olympic cycle. Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid have dealt with a myriad of injuries throughout their respective careers and will be on the wrong side of 30 by 2028 (Davis will be 35, Embiid 31). Jrue Holiday and Derrick White are questionable to return as well, which leaves USA Basketball general manager Grant Hill with a lot of vacancies to fill.

Former Gonzaga men’s basketball standout Chet Holmgren will likely be heavily considered to wear the red, white and blue in LA. France’s Victor Wembanyama was a real thorn in Team USA’s side during the gold medal game — adding a similarly-sized Holmgren to combat Wembanyama seems like the right thing to do.

In the backcourt, Jalen Suggs stands out as a potential replacement for White as a defensive-minded guard who doesn’t need the ball in his hands and is willing to do the dirty work to earn playing time. 

"Jalen Suggs has an inside track, I would imagine, to be strongly considered simply for the fact that he was on that USA Select Team that was part of [Team USA’s] training camp,” said Dan Dickau. “You’re still talking four years out from now, so I think there’s things in his game [that] will need to be refined.”

“Defensively he’s shown, early in his career, that he can play at that level,” Dickau said. “What you would want to see is the decision-making and shotmaking from the 3-point line to be put in [the FIBA] environment.”

As for who will be sitting in the coach’s seat, that’s also up in the air. It was reported earlier this week that Steve Kerr would likely “retire” as Team USA head coach after the Paris Games. What that means for the rest of the coaching staff — Erik Spoelstra, Tyronn Lue and Gonzaga’s Mark Few — is unknown at this point, though it would make sense for Hill to stay in-house when he decides who the next coach will be.

There’s a case to be made for Few’s consideration as the next voice of USA Basketball. The FIBA game is more representative of the play styles seen in the college game; the last time Team USA went through a revamp, in the 2000s, it chose Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski to lead the pack. As the only college coach on the current staff, why wouldn’t Few be considered?

“I would imagine USA Basketball wants him to stay a part of it,” Dickau said. “I would not be surprised if coach Few gets very, very strong consideration to lead the men’s national team in the very near future.”

“He would be the face of college basketball. He’s one of them now, but he would become the true face of college basketball in regards to at least the coaching side of things.”

Dickau shared more of his thoughts on Few’s future with Team USA and much more on a new episode of Gonzaga Nation.

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE BELOW:

Produced by Christian Pedersen.