WILL Voigt remains interested in being the coach of Gilas Pilipinas national team in the future.
The American coach called the shots for the Angola national squad in the 2019 Fiba Basketball World Cup on Thursday said he is still open to the possibility to coach the vacant position at Gilas Pilipinas someday.
“I think I’m on record to say that the Gilas job will be an amazing one,” said Voigt during the Hoop Coaches International webinar for coaches organized by Blackwater consultant Ariel Vanguardia, and moderated by Philippine Star sports columnist Quinito Henson and sports psychologist Tedi Villasor.
Voigt has been mentioned as a candidate for the permanent position of Gilas Pilipinas head coach which was previously handled by Yeng Guiao. Following Guiao’s resignation after the dismal performance of the squad in the Fiba Basketball World Cup, Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone and TNT consultant Mark Dickel held the position on an interim basis.
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) has been in the process of finding a permanent head coach of Gilas Pilipinas, although it is unclear what’s the status of the search is following the coronavirus pandemic.
“I haven’t shied away from the fact. I think it will be an amazing opportunity. If I’m fortunate enough down the road to be that coach, that will be great,” said Voigt.
The 43-year-old Voigt was video coordinator for the San Antonio Spurs from 1999 to 2001, and became an assistant coach of University of Texas and Metro State, one of the strongest programs in NCAA Division II.
After he coached the Vermont Frost Heaves of the American Basketball Association and the Bakersfield Jam in the NBA G-League, Voigt became the head coach of Nigeria where he led the nation to the 2015 Afrobasket title.
He later accepted the same position with Angola and took the team to the 2019 Fiba Basketball World Cup where they defeated Gilas Pilipinas, 84-81, in overtime.
Recently, Voigt was an assistant coach of Mighty Sports which became the first non-Middle East team to win the Dubai International Basketball Championship trophy. Voigt said he is happy to be involved with Philippine basketball through Mighty Sports as well as his previous visits to the country.
“Just the level of interest in basketball (in the Philippines). I think there is really great, young talent. That’s one of the things that I really enjoyed a lot was getting to work with really talented young players. Obviously, we competed with a lot of those guys during the World Cup,” said Voigt.
Voigt also has high respect towards Filipino coaches and players who work hard in their craft.
“One of the things I love about the Philippines is your passion of basketball. I’ve been in a lot of places in the world and very few have that kind of level of love for the game. And that trickles down to every level – coaches, players, fans, all of them. I wasn’t surprised. I have worked with coach Ariel before at Phoenix before, I worked with his Filipino players in the past and they were all great guys that are really hungry to learn,” said Voigt.
“I worked with a college team while I was in Manila on top of training Mighty Sports. Everybody had such a great attitude. Everyday, they came to work. Everyday, they came to improve. They were hungry to learn. And the same thing applied to the coaches,” said Voigt.
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