Niko Medved still remembers assisting former Minnesota head coach Clem Haskins–who Medved affectionately describes as “such a unique character”--and his coaching staff with daily practice tasks as a student manager, but remembers something else about the job that was more notable.
Medved says that coaching in 1993-1996–when he was a manager–was significantly different than it is nowadays as he works to make Minnesota a winner. It was harsher, it was ruthless at times. Haskins’ players didn’t have the option of the transfer portal like Medved’s do nowadays, they also weren’t compensated. Instead of hitting the door when something went wrong, they had to stay and deal with the tough coaching that Haskins’ staff provided at times.
Oftentimes the reason they would get through the difficult practices was because of Medved’s role as a conduit between the players and the coaching staff.
“Sometimes working as a manager was almost like working as a counselor, babysitter,” Medved told Basket Under Review. “You were really trying to help those guys because you were trying to coach, but you were also friends with the players. You were tight with the coaches and really were just trying to be that guy to sometimes just help those guys [players] get through the hard times in the practices.”
Medved came of age as a coach in the BIG 10 at the tail end of the Bobby Knight Indiana tenure and in the midst of Gene Keady’s run at Purdue, a time in which hard coaching was encouraged and appeared to be the norm around the midwest.
The first-year Minnesota head coach doesn’t appear to be afraid of confrontation, he can’t be in his current role. He also doesn’t appear to be the type to throw chairs or take on the persona of the coaches’ in the league’s generation before him, though. If Medved is going to win at Minnesota, he’s going to have to do it by being himself. By all accounts, the Minnesota head coach is a midwesterner in every sense; he’s upbeat, he’s sincere, he’s low maintenance and he possesses a subtle level of toughness.
“Coach Medved, he just cares for you,” current Minnesota guard Chansey Willis Jr. said in the quote that could’ve passed as one from Minnesota’s players that were around when Medved was a manager, only with the word “coach” added in front of his sentiment. “He’s just a great person, he’s loving and caring outside of basketball, but he’s also going to love and care for you through basketball.”
Willis says that when he came on his visit to Minnesota, Medved stopped him and interjected that he felt as if the Western Michigan transfer–who also spent time at Henry Ford College and Saginaw Valley State–had a chip on his shoulder. It’s a term that Willis and Medved hadn’t discussed before, but resonated with the 6-foot-2 guard that’s been an underdog for the entirety of his career.
The Western Michigan transfer says Medved is “the same way” and the idea that he’s had to scratch and claw for everything he’s earned resonates with his players–like North Carolina transfer Cade Tyson, who Medved also says has a “chip on his shoulder.” Medved sat in nearly every seat on Minnesota’s bench over the years as a manager, grad assistant and assistant coach before finally standing up as its head coach for the first time in its exhibition against North Dakota State.
As Medved has built out his portfolio as a head coach–which includes stops at Furman, Drake and Colorado State as well as a 222-172 overall record–he’s often been aided by the reference points he has because of his past experiences. Medved knows the responsibilities of every person on his staff and what their role requires of them. In all likelihood, Medved’s build of Minnesota will be a process, but he’s at least got a starting point.
If Medved were to succeed as a power-five head coach, he wouldn’t be the first of his kind. Indiana coach Darian DeVries was hired away from West Virginia this offseason and was a student manager for the Hoosiers as a college student,
“There’s a bunch of guys who were managers who have become successful head coaches,” Medved said. “I think one of the biggest things is that you have an opportunity to really try to do a little bit of everything in a program and as you keep moving up and your role increases you having an understanding of what everyone does in your program and how everything works I think is a position of strength.”
When Medved walked around Williams Arena–more affectionately known as “The Barn”--walked back to his dorm and thought about why he was doing all this, he thought ahead to what he hoped would be a fruitful high school coaching career in which he architected a “great program” and was beloved.
Medved always knew he wanted to coach and dreamed that maybe he could find his way at a small college rather than a high school, but a Division-I program appeared to be a pipe dream. Eventually taking on the job that Haskins held during Medved’s days in school, that was a fairy tale.
“I never thought I’d have a job like this,” Medved said. “The dream kept growing and growing, but when I started out as a student manager, I’d be lying if I told you that I ever thought that this would be possible.”
The Minnesota job that was likely scary to some that had paid attention to its history–which has included just three NCAA Tournament seasons since the 2010-2011 season–was a dream job of sorts for Medved.
Medved graduated from Minnesota in 1997 with a degree in kinesiology and in 1999 with a masters’ degree in sports management. Furman, Drake and Colorado State all mean something to Medved, but they couldn’t replicate what this place means to him. He’s one of this place’s own and is as passionate as anyone in regard to this program.
“It’s definitely special having him have that pride to coach here,” Minnesota guard Isaac Asuma–who stayed with the Gophers through the coaching change this offseason–told Basket Under Review. “Being from Minnesota, it’s awesome.”
Between recruiting a nearly entirely new roster, moving a family from Colorado to Minnesota and working to build a chip on the shoulder of a team without many external expectations, Medved hasn’t had much of a chance to reflect on how meaningful it is for him to be on the position he’s in.
The story writes itself, though.
“The personal connection, it’s kind of a full-circle moment, it’s pretty special,” Medved said. “It’s awesome and I really mean that when I say I don't know if it's fully sunken yet.”
If it truly hasn’t yet, it will sink in for the Minnesota head coach at some point down the line. Medved grew up 15 minutes from Minnesota’s campus, went to games as a kid and his parents still live in the house that he grew up in down the street.
The first-year head coach is the type that this program needed. It needed someone that embraced it through its flaws. It needed someone that has watched it intently from afar. It needed someone who believes their vision can build this thing into a consistent winner.
“He is extremely passionate about coaching and developing young men and takes great pride in being from Minnesota,” Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle said when Medved was hired. “He has had success everywhere he has been and we look forward to him leading our men’s basketball program at his alma mater.”
The honeymoon phase for a first-year head coach is among college basketball’s best times–and this one is particularly sweet for Medved because of his background and his team’s two exhibition wins–but it’s fleeting. Time for Medved to prove that his program belongs, though.
Medved knows as well as anyone the history that he’s fighting here. Minnesota’s previous head coach Ben Johnson was fired after finishing with a losing record in three of his four seasons at the helm, before Richard Pitino was fired after eight seasons–three of his last four seasons also ended in a losing record. Medved’s team is projected to finish 16th out of 18 in the BIG 10.
The first-year head coach isn’t ready to guarantee any results right away, but isn’t counting his team out.
“It’s funny, I don’t know what to expect, that’s me being honest,” Medved said. “I want people to be more excited about the direction of the program this spring and they are now and I think that there is excitement. We may win a lot more than some people think. I mean, I don't want to put any limits on us, but it's hard for me to say what that looks like. But, I really like the group a lot.”
This Minnesota team doesn’t have the recognizable names up and down its roster that other schools in the BIG 10 has, it doesn’t have the winning history. This group can’t control that, though. It gets the opportunity to face off against the league’s best and wants to take advantage.
Medved’s team is ranked No. 73–the second-lowest in the BIG 10–in the KenPom preseason projections, is projected to have the nation’s No. 70 offense as well as its No. 88 defense. It believes what can allow it to play above its metric weight is difficult to measure, though.
“We have nothing to lose,” Willis told Basket Under Review. “We’re not the tallest, we’re not the biggest, but we’re gonna go out there and fight like we’re the tallest and strongest. We’re just always going to go out there and play with grit.”
Asuma says this Minnesota team wants to pride itself on “being some dogs,” getting every 50/50 ball, outcompeting opponents and being “tough, gritty.” That has to be the identity for this group if it’s going to exceed expectations.
If it does, it would take on the identity of its head coach–who climbed the ladder all the way into this job by grinding his way up the ladder. Medved came back to embrace the grind as a member of this program in an effort to get it back to where he wants it. It appears as if his players have bought in to what he’s selling.
“It would be a blessing to get Minnesota basketball back on the map, to get The Barn back rocking,” Asuma said. “I know that all the guys here–along with coach Medved–want to do that.”
