BleedGopher
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Per Shama:
Niko Medved is now the fifth head men’s basketball coach at the University of Minnesota in the last 25 years. There’s reason to believe he’s the best since the Clem Haskins era of 1986-1999.
Haskins ran afoul of the NCAA, but the man could coach. He was outstanding at developing players and superb at motivating them. Popular with the fans and community, Haskins had winning teams who frequently packed Williams Arena because of their sustained success.
The NCAA investigation that later found the Gophers guilty of violations led to the Haskins firing after the 1999 season. His successor, Dan Monson, was a wunderkind after two seasons as head coach at Gonzaga where the Bulldogs made the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight in year two.
But Monson, 37 when he was hired, had the worst situation of any Gopher coach this millennium—having to operate under the dark cloud of the Haskins demise and the limitations applied on his program because of NCAA sanctions. After seven seasons he was fired with a 36-60 Big Ten record.
Tubby Smith rode the prior success of Rick Pitino to a national championship as head coach at Kentucky in 1998. Smith had been a Pitino assistant but was sliding in on-court success and popularity in Lexington when he left the Wildcats to succeed Monson.
At Minnesota, despite often flirting with an above .500 Big Ten record, Smith couldn’t break through with a winner on the national scene. He had just two NCAA Tournament teams in six seasons, although his overall record of 124-81 and winning percentage of .605 is the best among Gophers coaches this millennium.
The last two coaches prior to the Medved hire this week could be referred to as trainees. Pitino’s son, Richard, was hired at 30 years old in 2013 with one prior season of head coaching experience (at small school Florida International). His successor in 2021, Ben Johnson, had never been a head coach.
On-the-job training didn’t work out well for either. Pitino won .365 percent of his Big Ten games. Johnson, whose teams twice finished last in the Big Ten, was fired this month with a 22-57 league record in four seasons (.278 winning percentage).
Smith had the best resume of the U hires through Johnson. He had won at Kentucky and other stops before Lexington. At the U he came close to having the right core of players for a breakthrough season.
Now here comes Medved with a resume and experience that is distinctly better than Monson, Pitino and Johnson. The 51-year-old Minneapolis born Medved has earned sustained success since beginning his head coaching career at Furman in 2013. Unlike Tubby, he never had the privilege of landing at a blue-blood program, instead having to make the most out of limited resources and legacies.
At Colorado State, his most recent stop, Medved had the Rams in the NCAA Tournament three of the last four years. He owns an overall career record of 222-172 and was 143-85 at Colorado State where he was the only coach ever to win 20 games or more five times.
Go Gophers!!
Niko Medved is now the fifth head men’s basketball coach at the University of Minnesota in the last 25 years. There’s reason to believe he’s the best since the Clem Haskins era of 1986-1999.
Haskins ran afoul of the NCAA, but the man could coach. He was outstanding at developing players and superb at motivating them. Popular with the fans and community, Haskins had winning teams who frequently packed Williams Arena because of their sustained success.
The NCAA investigation that later found the Gophers guilty of violations led to the Haskins firing after the 1999 season. His successor, Dan Monson, was a wunderkind after two seasons as head coach at Gonzaga where the Bulldogs made the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight in year two.
But Monson, 37 when he was hired, had the worst situation of any Gopher coach this millennium—having to operate under the dark cloud of the Haskins demise and the limitations applied on his program because of NCAA sanctions. After seven seasons he was fired with a 36-60 Big Ten record.
Tubby Smith rode the prior success of Rick Pitino to a national championship as head coach at Kentucky in 1998. Smith had been a Pitino assistant but was sliding in on-court success and popularity in Lexington when he left the Wildcats to succeed Monson.
At Minnesota, despite often flirting with an above .500 Big Ten record, Smith couldn’t break through with a winner on the national scene. He had just two NCAA Tournament teams in six seasons, although his overall record of 124-81 and winning percentage of .605 is the best among Gophers coaches this millennium.
The last two coaches prior to the Medved hire this week could be referred to as trainees. Pitino’s son, Richard, was hired at 30 years old in 2013 with one prior season of head coaching experience (at small school Florida International). His successor in 2021, Ben Johnson, had never been a head coach.
On-the-job training didn’t work out well for either. Pitino won .365 percent of his Big Ten games. Johnson, whose teams twice finished last in the Big Ten, was fired this month with a 22-57 league record in four seasons (.278 winning percentage).
Smith had the best resume of the U hires through Johnson. He had won at Kentucky and other stops before Lexington. At the U he came close to having the right core of players for a breakthrough season.
Now here comes Medved with a resume and experience that is distinctly better than Monson, Pitino and Johnson. The 51-year-old Minneapolis born Medved has earned sustained success since beginning his head coaching career at Furman in 2013. Unlike Tubby, he never had the privilege of landing at a blue-blood program, instead having to make the most out of limited resources and legacies.
At Colorado State, his most recent stop, Medved had the Rams in the NCAA Tournament three of the last four years. He owns an overall career record of 222-172 and was 143-85 at Colorado State where he was the only coach ever to win 20 games or more five times.
Go Gophers!!
