It was pretty obvious that Minnesota Basketball was going to be looking for a new coach after this season. And that held true as the Gophers let Ben Johnson go after four seasons following his team’s loss in the Big Ten Tournament. So naturally the Gophers set out looking for someone new to bring in and try to get Minnesota back to a more competitive level in the Big Ten. Where did they look, no further than a Minnesota native, in Nico Medved.
Medved has made a name for himself over the last several years leading the Colorado State Rams. In fact, the new head man in Minneapolis spent some of his early coaching years as an assistant for the Gophers. So it’s clear they knew exactly what they were looking for.
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Grading the Nico Medved Hire for Minnesota Basketball
Before we can give this hire a grade, we have to talk about coach Nico Medved himself. What does he bring to the table? Well, for starters, he just led CSU to a second-round appearance in the 2025 NCAA tournament. Who doesn’t love a good Cinderella team? His Rams team showed plenty of heart as they fought in a tough match-up with Maryland as they fell just one point short of reaching the Sweet 16.
That certainly feels like the perfect introduction for Medved, as he will get to see Maryland every year now that he’s in the Big Ten. Medved was able to completely turn the CSU program around as he led them to the NCAA Tournament in 2022, which was their first berth since 2013. A down season during 2022-23 didn’t deter him as he helped get the Rams in the dance once again last year, where they finished 25-11.
That led to a very impressive 2024-25 campaign that saw them win the MWC Conference Tournament. They shocked the world when they took down five-seeded Memphis behind a heck of a performance from Kyan Evans. Despite falling short against the Terps it’s clear that Nico Medved was ready for the next step.
Have to Get NIL Going
As Medved gets to Minneapolis, the number one focus has to be to get NIL funding for the program. Sure the Gophers aren’t on the level of Michigan, Purdue, Michigan State, and Illinois, or even Indiana when it comes to funding for their basketball program. But they have to get it right. It was clear that under Johnson the support wasn’t there. So they lost some big talent in the portal. Ironically enough Pharrel Payne who was a good player for the Gophers coming out of high school, left after last season for Texas A&M and he helped them reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Sure, Minnesota had Dawson Garcia, but he wasn’t enough. Minnesota is a proud Big Ten basketball program, so those in charge of the athletic department have to give Nico Medved everything they can so that this can be successful. A good way to start his Minnesota tenure would be to get Evans to follow him from Colorado State.
Like the Hire, But Hard to Trust the AD
Don’t get me wrong I like this hiring, but for the better part of 10 years, Minnesota has completely lacked in keeping talent in the state or even attracting it. The State of Minnesota has a lot of good players, but they all tend to leave for elsewhere around the country. Only time will tell if Medved can recruit. I’m confident in what he can do as a ball coach, he’s proved it at Colorado State, and even in his prior stops at Drake and Furman before that.
No offense Nico, but it’s pretty hard to trust the Athletic Department when it has been a revolving door at the head coach spot in Minneapolis for years now. Regardless welcome to the Big Ten, and good luck.
Final grade: B+
Photo credit: © Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
