SANTO DOMINGO (FIBA Basketball World Cup/2015 FIBA Americas Championship) - If the Dominican Republic are going to reach the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, a new coach will have to lead them.

The country's basketball federation has announced that Orlando Antigua has stepped down as national team boss because of his commitments as coach of the South Florida Bulls in American college basketball.

He will therefore not have the time to prepare the Dominicans for the FIBA Americas Championship taking place in Monterrey, Mexico (25 August to 6 September).

Promoted from his role as assistant coach under former Dominican head coach John Calipari, Antigua steered the team to a fourth-place finish at the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship in Venezuela.

That qualified the team for last year's FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Once at Spain 2014, the Dominican team played in Group C in Bilbao and defeated New Zealand and Finland and advanced to the Round of 16.

In their first elimination round game against Slovenia, the Dominicans battled but fell, 71-61.

The President of the Dominican Basketball Federation, Rafael Uribe, said in a statement: "Antigua has been an important part of the progress that our basketball has had in recent years.

"His principle legacy was to teach our young players that, with effort and dedication, they can achieve great things."

Edward Najri, the General Director of the Dominican Federation, said that Antigua had mentioned some time ago the possibility that he would not be able to continue, owing to his commitments with South Florida.

Wednesday's announcement that Antigua is no longer the coach will not dampen the enthusiasm currently surrounding the Dominican team.

"I am sure that we will choose a person that helps the country achieve its aim," Najri said.

"I have always liked continuity, above all when concerning someone as valuable as Antigua, but unfortunately in this case it’s something that is out of our hands."

FIBA