The search for a new Gopher basketball coach moved very, very quickly. Their new head coach is Niko Medved according to CBS Sports. A press conference is scheduled for Tuesday to introduce Medved who has a 222-172 record in 12 seasons as a head coach.
The 51-year-old Roseville, Minnesota native led the Colorado State Rams head into the NCAA Tournament's second round before losing to Maryland Sunday on a buzzer-beater. Medved was a Gopher assistant under Dan Monson and Jim Molinari is thought to be a top choice to be the program's next head coach.
"This is an exciting day for our program, our University and our state," said Minnesota Athletic Director Mark Coyle in a statement. "I am thrilled to welcome Niko, his wife Erica and their daughters, Aly and Taylor to Minnesota. Niko is a Minnesota alum with a proven head coaching track record. He is extremely passionate about coaching and developing young men and takes great pride in being from Minnesota. He has had success everywhere he has been, and we look forward to him leading our men's basketball program at his alma mater."
After the heartbreaking loss to Maryland however, Medved said he was in no hurry to make a decision and says he'll wait a while until his next move. That didn't happen.
"I want to thank President Rebecca Cunningham, Mark Coyle and everyone involved in the search, as this really is a dream job for me," said Medved. "I loved my time at Colorado State, and I worked with tremendous people who made a lasting impact on my life. Those are memories that I will cherish forever.
Medved has led Colorado State to the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons. He was also head coach at Furman and Drake after starting his coaching career as an assistant at Macalester.
Medved also joined the Gophers as an assistant in 2006 and has quickly been rumored as a target for the Gophers ever since Ben Johnson was fired earlier this month.
"This job was too special to pass up and when the opportunity presented itself, I had to take it," Medved explains. "I grew up a Gopher about 15 minutes away from The Barn. I went to school here, was a student manager here and coached here. This is a special place, it's home, and I cannot wait to get started."
WCCO's Henry Lake has a long-standing relationship with Medved and says he is definitely a top candidate for the job.
"He's a player's coach too, like he will get in your face, but he is just a guy that really cares about, number one, improving young men's lives," says Lake. "He loves the game of basketball, and he's one of us."
Medved's early experience with college basketball came as a student-manager at Minnesota before leaping into assistant roles and eventually head coaching jobs.
Johnson's team finished this past season 15-17 and missed out on the postseason again. Johnson's final record with the Gophers is 56-71 and 22-57 in Big Ten play over four seasons.
Johnson never found sustained success in the new world of college basketball where money for players, Name-Image-Likeness deals, and constant transfer portal options has changed the game so significantly. Despite some success in 2023-24, only four of the top 12 players from the 2023-24 team returned forcing another rebuilding year despite second-team All-Big Ten forward Dawson Garcia returning.
Minnesota Athletic Director Mark Coyle said after firing Johnson that it should be a desirable job for a top coaching candidate and he got his man quickly.
"This is an extremely desirable job in one of the best conferences and cities in the nation, and we fully expect to compete at the highest level on and off the court," says Coyle. "We provide a world-class experience for our student-athletes, have one of the best practice facilities in the nation and play games in a historic venue. We offer everything that is needed to be successful, and we will immediately begin a nationwide search for our next men's basketball coach."
Minnesota is not without challenges. The program has now gone decades without reaching the top of the ultra-competitive Big Ten, which now has only gotten tougher with the addition of more high-quality basketball programs like UCLA and Oregon. Add in Minnesota playing in the now century old Williams Arena, which might have history on it's side, but lacks many of the new and desirable amenities both fans and players seek out.