University of Minnesota Director of Athletics Mark Coyle has announced that Niko Medved has been named head men's basketball coach. The University and Medved have agreed to a six-year term, which is pending Board of Regents approval and the completion of a background check. Medved is Minnesota's 19th head coach in program history.

"This is an exciting day for our program, our University and our state," said Coyle. "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."

Medved, who earned both a bachelor's and master's degree from Minnesota, returns to his alma mater after a seven-year head coaching stint at Colorado State. It marks the second time Medved has been a coach at Minnesota, as he was an assistant coach during the 2006-07 season. Medved started his collegiate basketball career at Williams Arena when he served as a student manager under former Gopher coach Clem Haskins. 

"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.

"This job was too special to pass up and when the opportunity presented itself, I had to take it. 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 takes over the Minnesota program with 12 years of head coaching experience. He owns an overall career record of 222-172 and was 143-85 at Colorado State. The Roseville, Minn., native completed a historic run at Colorado State, as the Rams competed in the NCAA Tournament three of the last four years. Earlier this month, Medved led Colorado State to a Mountain West tournament championship and automatic NCAA Tournament berth, where they advanced to the Round of 32 with a First Round win over Memphis. 

In 2023-24, Medved led Colorado State to its highest ranking in school history, as the Rams reached No. 13 in the Associated Press poll and No. 12 in the Coaches Poll. The Rams earned an NCAA Tournament at-large bid and defeated Virginia for the program's first NCAA Tournament win since 2012. Medved's first NCAA Tournament appearance came in 2022, which was the program's first in nine seasons.

In his time with the Rams, Medved recorded the second-most wins (143) in program history and was the fifth coach in school history to reach 100 wins. He is Colorado State's only coach to record 20 or more wins in a season five times. Medved was named the United States Basketball Writers Association's District Coach of the Year in 2022 and 2021. 

During Medved's time, Colorado State had a first-team All-Mountain West selection for seven consecutive years: Nico Carvacho (2019, 2020), David Roddy (2021, 2022), Isaiah Stevens (2023, 2024) and Nique Clifford (2025). In all, there were 18 all-conference selections, including Roddy as the 2022 Mountain West Player of the Year. In addition, the Rams also had five NABC and USBWA all-district honorees under Medved's watch. Roddy was named a 2021 All-America selection and went on to be the 23rd overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft. Stevens became Colorado State's all-time leading scorer and assist leader at 2,350 points and 853 assists, respectively. He is currently playing in the G League with the Sky Force and the Miami Heat organization. 

Before his time at Colorado State, Medved spent the 2017-18 season at Drake, where the Bulldogs went 17-17 overall and were 10-8 in the Missouri Valley Conference. That mark placed the Bulldogs third in the league that season, a five-game league win improvement from the previous year. Their 17-win season placed the Bulldogs in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, which was Drake's first postseason competition in six years. 

Medved began his head coaching career at Furman, where he led the Paladins from 2013-17. His stint there was capped off by a 2017 Southern Conference regular season championship and Southern Conference Coach of the Year honors. It was Furman's first regular season championship in 26 years and first 20-win season since 2011. Medved twice coached the Southern Conference Player of the Year in Stephen Croone (2015-16) and Devin Sibley, Jr. (2016-17). After taking over a seven-win team, Furman improved each year under Medved with nine, 11, 19 and 23-win seasons, including two CollegeInsider.com Tournament appearances in 2016 and 2017. 

After serving as a Gopher student manager, Medved began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Macalester College from 1997-99. He then was an assistant coach at Furman from 1999-2006 before returning to Minnesota for the 2006-07 season. Medved was also an assistant coach at Colorado State from 2007-13 before beginning his head coaching career at Furman in 2013. 

Medved earned a bachelor's degree in kinesiology (1997) and his master's in sport management (1999) from the University of Minnesota.

He and his wife, Erica, have two daughters, Aly and Taylor.

Coaching Career
1997-99 Macalester College (Assistant Coach)
1999-06 Furman (Assistant Coach)
2006-07 Minnesota (Assistant Coach)
2007-13 Colorado State (Assistant Coach)
2013-17 Furman (Head Coach)
2017-18 Drake (Head Coach)
2018-25 Colorado State (Head Coach)

Head Coach Career
Year School Overall (Conf.)
2013-14 Furman 9-21 (3-13) 
2014-15 Furman 11-22 (5-13) 
2015-16 Furman 19-16 (11-7)
2016-17 Furman 23-11 (14-4)
2017-18 Drake 17-17 (10-8)
2018-19 Colorado State 12-20 (7-11) 
2019-20 Colorado State 20-12 (11-7) 
2020-21 Colorado State 20-8 (14-4) 
2021-22 Colorado State 25-6 (14-4) 
2022-23 Colorado State 15-18 (6-12) 
2023-24 Colorado State 25-11 (10-8)
2024-25 Colorado State 26-10 (16-4) 
Overall 222-172 (121-95)