Canada Basketball names Gordie Herbert new men's head coach
Gordie Herbert will be the next head coach of the Canadian senior men's basketball team through the 2028 Olympics, Canada Basketball announced Thursday.
He will officially start in the summer of 2026.
Herbert currently serves as head coach of EuroLeague club Bayern Munich and previously led Germany to a gold medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
The 66-year-old Canadian has been coaching since 1994. He previously served as an assistant for Canada on two separate occasions (2001-02, 2018-2021). Herbert has mostly worked overseas in Europe but had a brief stint as an assistant with the Toronto Raptors from 2008-09.
"I'm incredibly honored and excited for the opportunity to coach my home country," Herbert said in a statement. "Canada Basketball has made tremendous progress in recent years, and the depth of talent in the program is as good as anywhere in the world.
"I look forward to building on the strong culture that's been established and working with our athletes to continue pushing Canada to new heights."
Herbert has enjoyed plenty of success in his coaching career. He led Germany to a bronze medal at EuroBasket 2022, along with a gold medal in 2023, and he's won the Bundesliga championship (2004), the French Cup (2007), the Finnish Cup (2009), and the FIBA Europe Cup (2016).
There have also been many individual accolades for Herbert. He's won Austrian League Coach of the Year (2000), Bundesliga Coach of the Year (2016), Finnish Coach of the Year (2023), and All-German Sport's Coach of the Year (2023).
"It's great to welcome Gordie back to our program," Rowan Barrett, Canada Basketball's general manager and executive vice-president, said of the hire.
"He knows what it means to represent Canada and brings the experience, leadership, and vision to guide this group through the next chapter of our journey."
Herbert will replace current Brooklyn Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez as Canada's bench boss. Fernandez took over the role in June 2023 but stepped down in early 2025 to focus on the Nets.
Canada finished fifth at the 2024 Games in Paris, the country's best finish in the men's basketball tournament since it placed fourth in 1984. The program boasts arguably its greatest-ever talent pool with multiple players owning significant NBA experience, including Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, Houston Rockets forward Dillon Brooks, and MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder.