Niko Medved

Niko Medved was born on August 10, 1973, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and grew up in Roseville, Minnesota, graduating from Roseville Area High School in 1992. He began his collegiate basketball involvement at the University of Minnesota as a student manager under coach Clem Haskins, while earning his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 1997 and a master’s in sport management in 1999. His coaching journey officially started as an assistant coach at Macalester College from 1997-1999. He then served as an assistant at Furman from 1999-2006, followed by a season at his alma mater, Minnesota, in 2006-2007. Medved later spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Colorado State from 2007-2013, contributing to four consecutive postseason appearances, including back-to-back NCAA Tournament bids in 2012 and 2013.

Medved’s head coaching career commenced at Furman in 2013. He inherited a team with seven wins and steadily improved their performance each year, culminating in a 23-11 season in 2016-2017. During his tenure at Furman, he guided the Paladins to their first Southern Conference regular season championship in 26 years in 2017, earning him Southern Conference Coach of the Year honors. His teams also made two CollegeInsider.com Tournament appearances in 2016 and 2017. He also coached consecutive Southern Conference Players of the Year in Stephen Croone (2015-2016) and Devin Sibley, Jr. (2016-2017).

Following his successful run at Furman, Medved spent the 2017-2018 season as head coach at Drake, leading the team to a 17-17 overall record and their first postseason appearance in six years in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. In 2018, he returned to Colorado State as head coach, where he achieved significant success. In seven seasons, he accumulated a 143-85 record, making him the second-winningest coach in program history. Under his leadership, Colorado State reached the NCAA Tournament three times in four years, including advancing to the Round of 32 in 2025 after winning the Mountain West tournament. He also coached five 20-win seasons, was twice named USBWA District Coach of the Year, and received the Skip Prosser Man of the Year award in 2024. On March 24, 2025, Medved was named the 19th head coach of the University of Minnesota men’s basketball program.