Minnesota hires Colorado State's Niko Medved as men's basketball coach

Marcus Fuller, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Mar 24, 2025

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MINNEAPOLIS —The Minnesota Gophers named Colorado State’s Niko Medved as their new men’s basketball coach on Monday after his season ended Sunday night with a loss against Maryland in the NCAA Tournament.

Medved, a Minnesota graduate and former Gophers assistant, signed a six-year deal that is pending Board of Regents approval and a background check.

Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle had his eyes on Medved early to replace Ben Johnson, who was fired after finishing 15-17 in his fourth season.

“This is an exciting day for our program, our University and our state,” Coyle said in the news release. “... [Medved] 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.”

Medved went 143-85 in seven seasons at Colorado State, which included at least 25 wins and NCAA Tournament bids in three of his last four seasons. He had back-to-back seasons with NCAA Tourney wins for the first time in program history.

The 51-year-old got his start as a Gophers student manager under Clem Haskins and then as associate head coach at Macalester from 1997-99.

“I want to thank President Rebecca Cunningham, Mark Coyle and everyone involved in the search, as this really is a dream job for me,” Medved said. “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.

“This job was too special to pass up and when the opportunity presented itself, I had to take it,” Medved said in the news release. 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.”

Medved paid his dues as a Division I assistant for 14 seasons, with stops at Furman (1999-2006), Minnesota (2006-07) and Colorado State (2007-13). At Furman under Larry Davis and at Colorado State under Tim Miles and Larry Eustachy, Medved was part of rebuilding programs.

Furman hired Medved for his first head coaching job in 2013. The Paladins went from 9-21 in Medved’s first season to Southern Conference regular-season champions during a 23-11 season in 2016-17.

Medved went to Drake in 2017, and in his one season there he delivered a 10-win improvement from the previous season, finishing with a 17-17 record.

At Drake, Medved reunited with former DeLaSalle coach Dave Thorson. Thorson, who was a Gophers assistant under Haskins and Johnson, grew close to Medved when they worked together on Haskins' staff in the 1990s.

Medved and Thorson worked together for three years at Colorado State and orchestrated a major turnaround, going from 12-20 in their first season in 2018-19 to 20-win seasons in the next two before Thorson left to join Johnson’s staff at Minnesota.

With three different programs improving under his direction, Medved will be expected to work the same miracles back home in Minnesota. The Gophers were 22-57 in Big Ten play in four seasons under Johnson, who also was an alum and former Minnesota assistant.

Johnson’s best season was 2023-24 when the Gophers finished 19-15 and reached the second round of the NIT. The following season, he couldn’t replace the talent lost to the NBA draft and transfer portal due to insufficient NIL backing.

Coyle, who vowed to pump more money into men’s basketball recruiting with NIL and upcoming revenue sharing, has been vocal about getting back to the NCAA Tournament. The Gophers have been to the NCAA Tourney five times in the last 20 seasons, including their last appearance in 2019.

Medved will be tasked to take the Gophers to heights that Richard Pitino (2013-21) and Johnson couldn’t reach in the last decade-plus.

Last year, Medved received a contract extension through 2030-31 with a starting annual base salary of $1.7 million. His buyout is reportedly about $1.8 million or 33% remaining owed on his contract.

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