Mike Thibault named as new coach of Belgian Cats basketball team
Mike Thibault will succeed Rachid Meziane as coach of the Belgian women's basketball team. The 74-year-old American has signed a contract until the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Basketball Belgium announced on Monday.
Meziane led the Belgian Cats to a historic gold medal at the 2023 European Championships and Olympic bronze at the 2021 Tokyo Games. However, after taking over as coach of the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA, the Frenchman decided that he could not combine this position with that of national coach.
Basketball Belgium found his successor in the same competition. Thibault is a veteran of the sport, having reached the playoffs eight times and the finals twice with the Connecticut Sun. He then moved to Washington Mystics, where he won the WNBA title in 2019 with Belgians Emma Meesseman and Kim Mestdagh.
Crucial qualifiers
Thibault was voted WNBA Coach of the Year three times and holds the record for most wins as a coach in the WNBA with 379. He also spent many years as an assistant coach with the USA women's national team. He won Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2024 and a world title in 2022.
"I am honoured to be the new coach of the Cats," Thibault said on Monday. "This is a team with key players at the peak of their careers and I look forward to playing for trophies in the years to come. I will do everything I can to get the best out of this special group."
"This is a team with key players at the peak of their careers"
Thibault will take charge of Belgium for the first time next week, with crucial European qualifiers against Azerbaijan on Thursday and Lithuania on Sunday. If the Cats win both, they will book their place at the European Championship in June.
© PHOTO ETHAN MILLER / GETTY IMAGES / AFP
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