A more detailed look at potential Gopher Basketball candidate Niko Medved
I will kick off the series of coaching candidate profiles with the name that quickly emerged as perhaps the most discussed candidate. Everybody who is working overtime to get information from sources is reporting that Niko Medved is the most likely candidate to land the Gopher job.
Nike Medved
Current Position: Colorado State
Age: 51
Not only is Medved a Minnesota native, having graduated from Roseville High School, but he is also a Minnesota alum and former Gopher assistant. The emotional ties to the state and university are strong.
His first shot as a head coach came with Furman where he coached for four seasons, incrementally improving each season. In his fourth season his Paladins club tied for first in the SoCon and they lost in the conference title game, missing out on an opportunity to make the NCAA Tournament.
He was offered the head job at Drake and stayed there for just one season before taking the job at Colorado State.
While in Fort Collins, Medved has coached for seven seasons and taken the Rams to the NCAA Tournament three of the last four years.
Career Highlights
This past weekend, Medved and his Rams won the Mountain West conference tournament. A huge win for the program and as stated above, this marks the third time in four seasons that Medved has made the NCAA Tournament.
His first trip to the Big Dance was as a 6-seed in 2022, where they were upset by Michigan. Then again in 2024 they made the tournament as an at-large 10-seed. They beat Virginia in Dayton before losing to Texas in the actual first round.
While at Furman, Medved never made the NCAA Tournament but his teams improved significantly each season. Prior to arriving, the Paladins had gone 7-24 under Jeff Jackson. Medved’s first year was a 9-21 campaign and they finished ranked 342nd in college basketball (according to KenPom). His fourth season, they were 23-12 and finished ranked 106th.
Coaching Style
Offensively, Medved’s teams consistently are fairly efficient offensively, his better teams tend to rank in the 40-50 range nationally. They tend to consistently rank very high in 2-pt FG%. When you watch CSU games, it is evident that they move the ball well and have a clear understanding of what they are trying to execute on the offensive end of the floor.
Defensively, nothing really stands out with Medved’s teams. They tend to defensively rebound well to finish possessions. Overall their metrics indicate that they are solid on defense
He has had perimeter players who have done very well. David Roddy was a 1st round pick and is playing with Houston. Nique Clifford is currently a senior and projects to be a late-1st or early 2nd round draft pick. Medved coached back-to-back SoCon Players of the Year during his last two seasons in South Carolina.
Reason for Optimism
Twice, Medved has taken over a program that had significant struggles the prior season and he turned them around. His teams are consistently successful and are smart offensively. When it comes to player development he has been able to identify some great players and recruit them to his mid-major program.
Reason to Pause
The same reason that many Gopher fans are excited about Medved is the very reason that I think we should all take a breath and think on this one. If Medved were not from Minnesota, I’m not sure that he would be on anybody’s radar to be the next Gopher head coach. Where you are born should not be a primary criterion.
If you compare Medved’s resume to other names being tossed around, nothing about it stands out. Until this weekend he had not won an outright conference title or a tournament title. That’s 1 conference title in 12 seasons at various mid-major levels. This does not give me great confidence that competing at or near the top of the Big Ten is in his future.
I’m also not sure that he has the experience of managing the transfer portal and NIL at this level. I’m not saying he can’t manage this, but it is a question worth considering.
Verdict
This current season gives me more confidence in Medved than I would have had even a year ago. His Rams have won 10 games in a row, in a difficult Mountain West Conference. In the conference tourney they beat Utah State by double digits in the semis and then ripped Boise State in the championship.
Again, if he had been born in Idaho, I’m not sure that most Gopher fans would not be remotely interested in Medved as the next Gopher’s coach. But there is reason for optimism. Medved has been successful both at Furman and Colorado State. While he hasn’t achieved great success, he has done very well.
This candidate would not be at the top of my list, but I can see why Medved is being considered. Based on reports from multiple media outlets, Medved is the leader in the clubhouse.