Niko Medved (born August 10, 1973) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach, currently the head men's basketball coach at

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

. Prior to becoming head coach at Colorado State, he was head coach at

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States. Hi ...

and Furman.

Early life and education

Born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, Medved graduated from

Roseville Area High School Roseville Area High School (RAHS) is a public high school in Roseville, Minnesota, United States. It serves Roseville and the surrounding communities of Arden Hills, Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Little Canada, Maplewood, and Shoreview. RAHS is ...

in nearby

Roseville, Minnesota Roseville is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, United States. It is one of two Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Twin Cities suburbs that are adjacent to both Saint Paul and Minneapolis (the other is Lauderdale, Minnesota, Lauderdale). The land comprisin ...

in 1992. In high school, Medved was a letterwinner in basketball and golf.

Assistant coach

Medved was an assistant coach at Furman from 1999 to 2006. He spent a year as assistant at his alma mater, Minnesota, under

Dan Monson Daniel Lloyd Monson (born October 6, 1961) is an American college basketball coach serving as the head coach at Long Beach State since April 2007. Previously he was head coach at Minnesota for over seven seasons (1999–2006), reaching postseason ...

(who resigned mid-season) and

Jim Molinari James R. Molinari (born December 26, 1954) is an American basketball coach and lawyer. Molinari was most recently an assistant coach at Oklahoma from 2019 to 2021. He formerly served as an assistant coach at Nebraska and as former head coach o ...

. Medved then enjoyed success as an assistant coach at Colorado State under

Tim Miles Timothy Sean Miles (born August 20, 1966) is an American college basketball coach who is the current head coach of the San Jose State Spartans men's basketball team. Miles previously served as the head coach of North Dakota State University, Colo ...

. He helped guide the Rams to four straight postseason appearances, including back-to-back trips to the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and 2013 NCAA tournament. He helped Colorado State achieve records of 19–13 and 20–12.

Furman

On April 12, 2013 that Medved was announced as the head coach for Furman University for the 2013–14 season. Medved took over a struggling Furman program, taking over a seven-win team in 2013 and progressing to nine, 11, 19, and 23 wins in successive seasons. Medved has also coached back-to-back

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

Players of the Year in Stephen Croone and Devin Sibley, Jr. In his third season at Furman in 2015–16, the Paladins finished with a 19–16 overall record, a third-place finish in the Southern Conference, and the school's first postseason victory in 40 years. He led the Paladins to the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT). In January 2017, Medved signed a contract extension with Furman through 2022. In

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, Medved was named SoCon Coach of the Year as he led the Paladins to the SoCon regular-season championship with a 13–3 conference record. Losing in the SoCon tournament led to another appearance in the CIT.

Drake

On March 26, 2017, Medved was hired as head coach at Drake. After a 17-17 season with an inherited senior laden team, his controversial departure less than a calendar year later left Drake with five players and no coaching staff.

Return to Colorado State

After one season at Drake, Medved was named head coach of Colorado State on March 22, 2018. He named Dave Thorson, JR Blount and

Ali Farokhmanesh Ali Fredrick Farokhmanesh (born April 16, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player and current Colorado State Rams men's basketball assistant coach. Farokhmanesh gained nationwide fame in the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketbal ...

as his assistants. In 2022, Medved led the Rams to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2013.

Head coaching record

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medved, Niko 1973 births Living people American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Minnesota College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Colorado State Rams men's basketball coaches Drake Bulldogs men's basketball coaches Furman Paladins men's basketball coaches Macalester Scots men's basketball coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball coaches Sports coaches from Minneapolis University of Minnesota alumni People from Roseville, Minnesota Roseville Area High School alumni