(CSTV U-WIRE) DURHAM, N.C. – No one has ever doubted Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s ability as a college coach.

His three national championships are tied for first among active coaches, and his Duke teams challenge for the NCAA title every season.

But when Krzyzewski accepted the position to coach Team USA for the next three years, many people wondered how the NBA’s superstars would react to the appointment of a college coach.

“Well I can only speak for myself, and he has my respect 110 percent if there was such a thing as 110 percent,” Los Angeles Lakers’ All-Star Kobe Bryant said of Krzyzewski in a statement to The Chronicle. “That is my guy. I am a big fan of Coach K.”

Krzyzewski has always prided himself in being a basketball teacher, which is a reason why he has flirted with the NBA but remained in the college ranks. The NBA game is more star-oriented, and players are often more dismissive of their coaches’ tutelage.

Still, Krzyzewski has plenty of experience grooming professional talent – the Hall of Famer has coached 36 players drafted by NBA teams, including 18 first-round selections over his 25 previous seasons at Duke.

“He’s coached some great players in the past,” Washington Wizard’s All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas said in a statement. “I don’t think it will be a problem for him to coach this caliber of player now.”

Team USA, once considered virtually unbeatable, has been through rough times the past three years.

At the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis, Argentina ended Team USA’s 58-game winning streak with squads featuring NBA players, and the Americans struggled to a sixth-place finish. In the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, the red, white and blue lost three times on its way to a disappointing bronze medal. It marked the first time the USA had not won gold at the Olympics since professionals began competing in 1992.

The 2004 games were particularly troublesome. Led by Larry Brown, then head coach of the Detroit Pistons, the team lost to Argentina – a squad that featured only three NBA players.

Many blamed Brown for the loss, stating that he failed to unite Team USA. Critics were upset that LeBron James, one of the best young basketball players in the world, sat on the bench for much of the Olympics.

The team’s turbulent experience will likely change the approach used by Krzyzewski – he said he intends to focus on finding both stars and complementary role players.

“When you think about what happened the last time [in Athens], I think everybody will be on the same page,” Arenas said. “You always want to be the best, and everybody will go there with the same goal-to win the gold medal.”

But recruiting players could be a difficult task for USA Basketball and its Managing Director Jerry Colangelo because players are being asked potentially to devote three straight offseasons to the national team.

In the past, many NBA stars have refused to play on the Olympic Team because of the time commitment. In 2004, Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O’Neal and Bryant – three of the NBA’s premier American stars – all turned down invitations to play for Team USA in Athens. Bryant, however, does not think it will be an issue this time around.

“If you look at things that have been going on in the world, all the soldiers that are fighting for our country, and we play basketball,” Bryant said. “A three-year commitment to play basketball and to establish ourselves as being the best basketball country in the world is not too much to ask. If they can go over there and fight wars and be away from their family for years upon years, then we can do a three-year commitment to bring the gold medal back to a place it belongs, right here in the U.S.”

The squad will travel to Japan next summer to compete in the World Championships, where it can qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing with a win. If Team USA fails to claim the World Championship title in Japan, the squad will attempt to qualify in the summer of 2007.

– by Andrew Davis