There is an old cliché about impressive coaches “winning” their introductory press conferences. An initial honeymoon can extend longer and that appears to be the reality for new University of Minnesota men’s basketball coach Niko Medved.
The Minnesota born and raised Medved has been a hit since the announcement came on March 24 that he was leaving his successful program at Colorado State to take the head coaching job at his alma mater. He’s been embraced literally and figuratively because of his ties to the state, successful coaching record at multiple stops and a personality that resonates as authentic, humble and determined to restore the Gopher basketball brand.
Sports Headliners checked in with sources tied to the program and asked their thoughts about the 52-year-old Medved who was a student manager in the 1990s under head coach Clem Haskins. That era was the last time the program had a glorious run—with Williams Arena turned into a mad house and the best ticket value in town for sports entertainment.
…”It’s probably the best fit this place has had in quite some time,” said former Gopher radio analyst Spencer Tollackson about the Medved hire.
Tollackson played at Minnesota in 2006-2007 when Medved was an assistant on the staff. So, too, did Jamal Abu-Shamala who believes the new coach will do a “fantastic job running the program.”
One of the requirements for success with the Gophers, Abu-Shamala reminded Sports Headliners, is connecting with the community and fans. “He’s the perfect guy for this day and age. He’s really good in front of a crowd. He’s good in front of people and that’s only going to build that connectivity to the program which people feel they need…here in Minnesota. I think that’s more critical than ever.”
In the new millennium, losing seasons have become commonplace at the U. Minnesota finished last in the Big Ten standings in both 2022 and 2023. The last time the Gophers finished with a winning record in Big Ten games was 10-8 in 2017. Prior to that the only winning season in conference games was 2005 at 10-6.
Medved’s coaching chops with teaching and strategizing will be important for a turnaround, but talent always figures in prominently. And in the new world of college basketball, players can earn not just six-figures but become millionaires because of revenue sharing by athletic departments and compensation for name, image and likeness.
Tollackson refers to the “differentiating factor” of money in today’s landscape. And he recalled someone said this to him: “The answer is money. Now what’s your question?”
Gopher booster Bob Klas has given significant amounts of money to Minnesota’s official collective for NIL, Dinkytown Athletes. He was asked the following:
Can Medved be more successful as Gopher coach than his four predecessors in this millennium? And what will it take?
“A key to Niko being successful, as I imagine will be true for most other coaches, will be the amount of revenue sharing and NIL money he’ll have available for his program,” Klas said via email. “From what I’ve heard and read so far, the (Gopher) athletics department seems committed to providing him with a competitive budget. If that happens, I think Niko’s program can be in the upper half of the Big Ten, which hasn’t been the case for a while.”
Jim Petersen, a member of Minnesota’s 1982 Big Ten championship team, said previous coach Ben Johnson “was kind of hamstrung a little bit” regarding NIL money but he anticipates Medved having more resources. Word is men’s basketball will have more money than in the past from Dinkytown Athletes, and revenue sharing by the athletic department is expected to begin this summer for multiple sports at Minnesota including Medved’s program.
“I think he’s going to be successful,” Petersen said in response to a question about what the future will hold for Medved.
Those who know Medved believe his success will partially come from his ability to identify talent when others don’t. At Colorado State he recruited Minneapolis native David Roddy when many programs didn’t show that much interest, and he helped develop him into a NBA first round pick. In this week’s draft former Rams star Nique Clifford, who transferred to Fort Collins after a mediocre run at Colorado, is likely to go in the first round.
Abu-Shamala sees Medved as a coach who burns to win and will discover under the radar talent. “I think he’s super competitive. He’s a worker. He’s out and about all the time connecting with coaches…but he’s also going around and he’s looking at players’ intangibles that I think are often overlooked.
“Nowadays, there’s all these analytics. This guy shoots this percentage from three and this is how he fits in. But I think often overlooked is the element of who they are as people and how they fit into a culture. And I think he will do a really nice job of finding those players that have the pieces that you can’t measure with analytics.
“David Roddy had that. He’s just a worker. He didn’t fit a position, so people didn’t know where to slot him. And you get guys like that, that can find a role on a team, and they’ll be successful.”
If Abu-Shamala sounds pumped about Medved, he’s not alone. “I want to go play (for him) right now,” said the 63-year-old Petersen, once a prep All-American at St. Louis Park High School and also an NBA veteran.
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