by French men’s basketball coach Vincent Collet is now moving into an advisory role after leading the team to the last two Olympic silver medals.
Collet will be special advisor to the national technical management for the 2028 and 2032 Olympic cycles, The French Basketball Federation announced on MondayHe is still available to take on an assistant coaching position in the NBA or a coaching position in the EuroLeague.
“I’m still a coach,” he said, From a translation of a French national team Q&A session“I also think I’ll become a coach again one day. I don’t feel finished yet.”
Collet, 61, took charge of the French team in 2009 after the nation missed out on qualifying for the Olympics in 2004 and 2008 after winning silver at the Sydney Games in 2000.
Under Collet, France has qualified for four consecutive Olympics, reached the quarterfinals at each edition of the Games and finished runner-up to the United States at the last two Olympics.
In Tokyo, France became the first team to beat the United States at the Olympics since 2004, and in the first round. In the final, the United States won 87-82, the closest Olympic men’s basketball final since 1972.
In Paris, Victor Wembanyama made his Olympic debut and kept France in contention for the gold medal until the final minutes. France cut the deficit against the United States to 82-79 with three minutes remaining, before Stephen Curry hit four three-pointers to seal the 98-87 victory.
Collet also coached Wembanyama’s club team in France before Wembanyama was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs last year.
“We are facing a rebuild,” Collet said of the national team. “This year, we came to the Games at a crossroads, with the end of one generation and the emergence of a new one. For the Los Angeles goals that are looming, we will have to rely on a young generation that is perhaps the most promising we have ever had.”
