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University of Minnesota head men's basketball coach Niko Medved has announced the remainder of his staff additions. Chad Warner and Aaron Katsuma will be assistant coaches, while Joe De Ciman will be men's basketball's chief of staff. Rachel Herndon will serve as the director of operations, and Anthony Holland and Lucas Stieber will be director of player personnel and director of player development.
Chad Warner
Warner was at Furman for three years, the first two as an assistant coach, before being promoted to associate coach in the 2024-25 campaign. Furman finished last season with a 25-10 overall record, advanced to the Southern Conference Championship title game and competed in the National Invitation Tournament. Warner assisted in leading the 2022-23 Paladins to a school-record 28 victories, highlighted by an 88-79 triumph over Chattanooga in the SoCon Championship game and a 68-67 victory over No. 4 seed Virginia in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Orlando, Fla.
Prior to his Furman tenure, Warner spent the previous five seasons as head coach at Flagler College, leading the Saints to a 72-63 record highlighted by an 18-3 mark in 2020-21 and 23-8 in 2021-22. He was also the head coach for eight seasons at Shorter University, posting a record of 156-91. In 13 seasons as a head coach, Warner amassed a 228-154 overall record. Warner was the winningest coach in program history at Shorter with 156 victories, including a school-record 34 wins in 2011-12. Shorter advanced to the NAIA Division I "Fab Four" that year and was ranked No. 1 nationally for most of the season. He was named the NABC NAIA Division I National Coach of the Year. At Shorter, he coached six NAIA All-Americans and nine All-Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) selections.
Warner began his collegiate coaching career at his alma mater, Georgia, serving as a graduate assistant under head coach Jim Harrick. He graduated from Georgia in 1998 with his bachelor's degree in journalism. As a freshman under head coach Hugh Durham, Warner earned a walk-on spot. After graduating from Georgia, he was an associate head coach at the Darlington School for four seasons.
Aaron Katsuma
Katsuma returns to his alma mater after a two-year tenure at New Mexico and reconnects with Medved, working together for six seasons previously.
In his time with the Lobos, he helped them to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, a Mountain West regular season title and a Mountain West Tournament championship. In the 2024-25 season, the Lobos went 17-3 in the league, led by three All-Mountain West Players, including the league's player of the year Donovan Dent. New Mexico also earned a 2025 NCAA Tournament first-round win over Marquette. In the 2023-24 season, Katsuma helped the Lobos to a 26-10 record and their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2014. New Mexico had five all-conference players that season, including Dent and JT Toppin, who was also the Mountain West Co-Freshman of the Year.
Katsuma spent five seasons at Colorado State and one year with Medved at Drake in roles as the Director of Basketball Operations and Recruiting. During his five seasons at Colorado State, Katsuma was part of a staff that led the Rams to two postseason appearances, including an NCAA bid in 2022. In 2022, he was honored with the Asian Coaches Association Coach of the Year award.
After serving as a manager at Minnesota while working on his undergraduate degree for four seasons from 2010-11 to 2013-14, Katsuma was a graduate manager for two seasons in 2014-15 and 2015-16, where he helped with scouting, academics, and player development. Upon gaining his master's, he spent the 2016-17 season with the Golden Gophers as the Assistant Director of Player Personnel, as the program won 24 games and reached the NCAA Tournament.
Katsuma graduated from Minnesota in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in sport management. He earned his master's of education in applied kinesiology/sport and exercise science from Minnesota in 2016.
Joe De Ciman
Joe De Ciman will be the chief of staff and will oversee all off-court activities for the men's basketball team, including academic success and career development.
Prior to his time at Minnesota, De Ciman was at his alma mater, Colorado State, from 2018 to 25. De Ciman helped CSU to a trio of NCAA Tournament berths (2022, 2024 and 2025) and a NIT semifinal (2021). Over his six seasons, the Rams have won 20-plus games five times. As an athlete for the Rams, De Ciman finished his career as the winningest player in CSU history with 87 wins during his four years in Fort Collins. A four-time academic all-conference honoree at CSU, De Ciman earned a bachelor's degree in health and exercise science from CSU in 2016 and his master's in education and human resource studies in 2019.
After his senior season, De Ciman played professional basketball in Spain for two years. In his first year, he helped Iraurgi Saski Baloia to the Spanish LEB Plata championship, earning them promotion to the LEB ORO division.
Rachel Herndon
Rachel Herndon will serve as director of operations, a role she also held at Colorado State under coach Medved. Herndon joins the Gophers after a year stint with her alma mater.
During her undergrad, Herndon worked with the Colorado State football program as an intern in operations and recruiting. Following graduation from Colorado State, she became an elementary school teacher. During that time, she was the assistant athletic director at Littleton Preparatory Charter School and the junior high boys' basketball coach. She spent five years as an educator before returning to CSU in 2024.
Anthony Holland
Anthony Holland joins the Gopher staff as director of player personnel. Holland was a graduate assistant at Colorado State after completing his playing career at Washington following the 2023-24 season.
Holland appeared in 31 of the team's 32 games his senior season with Washington and averaged 12.4 minutes per game. Prior to his time with the Huskies, Holland played for four seasons at Fresno State before using his COVID year in Seattle. He played in 113 games as a Bulldog and became a regular starter in his sophomore season, averaging 6.6 points and 5.0 rebounds for his career.
Lucas Stieber
Lucas Stieber joins Minnesota as a director of player development. Before his time at Minnesota, Stieber was a graduate assistant at Colorado State in May of 2024. Stieber played four years of collegiate basketball, first at Wisconsin-Green Bay and two years at Gardner Webb.
The Green Bay, Wis., native started his career at Wisconsin-Green Bay and played in 53 games before heading south to Gardner Webb. The guard started 78 of the 116 games he played, including all 32 in 2023-24 for GWU. He averaged 5.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists for his career.
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Chad Warner
Warner was at Furman for three years, the first two as an assistant coach, before being promoted to associate coach in the 2024-25 campaign. Furman finished last season with a 25-10 overall record, advanced to the Southern Conference Championship title game and competed in the National Invitation Tournament. Warner assisted in leading the 2022-23 Paladins to a school-record 28 victories, highlighted by an 88-79 triumph over Chattanooga in the SoCon Championship game and a 68-67 victory over No. 4 seed Virginia in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Orlando, Fla.
Prior to his Furman tenure, Warner spent the previous five seasons as head coach at Flagler College, leading the Saints to a 72-63 record highlighted by an 18-3 mark in 2020-21 and 23-8 in 2021-22. He was also the head coach for eight seasons at Shorter University, posting a record of 156-91. In 13 seasons as a head coach, Warner amassed a 228-154 overall record. Warner was the winningest coach in program history at Shorter with 156 victories, including a school-record 34 wins in 2011-12. Shorter advanced to the NAIA Division I "Fab Four" that year and was ranked No. 1 nationally for most of the season. He was named the NABC NAIA Division I National Coach of the Year. At Shorter, he coached six NAIA All-Americans and nine All-Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) selections.
Warner began his collegiate coaching career at his alma mater, Georgia, serving as a graduate assistant under head coach Jim Harrick. He graduated from Georgia in 1998 with his bachelor's degree in journalism. As a freshman under head coach Hugh Durham, Warner earned a walk-on spot. After graduating from Georgia, he was an associate head coach at the Darlington School for four seasons.
Aaron Katsuma
Katsuma returns to his alma mater after a two-year tenure at New Mexico and reconnects with Medved, working together for six seasons previously.
In his time with the Lobos, he helped them to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, a Mountain West regular season title and a Mountain West Tournament championship. In the 2024-25 season, the Lobos went 17-3 in the league, led by three All-Mountain West Players, including the league's player of the year Donovan Dent. New Mexico also earned a 2025 NCAA Tournament first-round win over Marquette. In the 2023-24 season, Katsuma helped the Lobos to a 26-10 record and their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2014. New Mexico had five all-conference players that season, including Dent and JT Toppin, who was also the Mountain West Co-Freshman of the Year.
Katsuma spent five seasons at Colorado State and one year with Medved at Drake in roles as the Director of Basketball Operations and Recruiting. During his five seasons at Colorado State, Katsuma was part of a staff that led the Rams to two postseason appearances, including an NCAA bid in 2022. In 2022, he was honored with the Asian Coaches Association Coach of the Year award.
After serving as a manager at Minnesota while working on his undergraduate degree for four seasons from 2010-11 to 2013-14, Katsuma was a graduate manager for two seasons in 2014-15 and 2015-16, where he helped with scouting, academics, and player development. Upon gaining his master's, he spent the 2016-17 season with the Golden Gophers as the Assistant Director of Player Personnel, as the program won 24 games and reached the NCAA Tournament.
Katsuma graduated from Minnesota in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in sport management. He earned his master's of education in applied kinesiology/sport and exercise science from Minnesota in 2016.
Joe De Ciman
Joe De Ciman will be the chief of staff and will oversee all off-court activities for the men's basketball team, including academic success and career development.
Prior to his time at Minnesota, De Ciman was at his alma mater, Colorado State, from 2018 to 25. De Ciman helped CSU to a trio of NCAA Tournament berths (2022, 2024 and 2025) and a NIT semifinal (2021). Over his six seasons, the Rams have won 20-plus games five times. As an athlete for the Rams, De Ciman finished his career as the winningest player in CSU history with 87 wins during his four years in Fort Collins. A four-time academic all-conference honoree at CSU, De Ciman earned a bachelor's degree in health and exercise science from CSU in 2016 and his master's in education and human resource studies in 2019.
After his senior season, De Ciman played professional basketball in Spain for two years. In his first year, he helped Iraurgi Saski Baloia to the Spanish LEB Plata championship, earning them promotion to the LEB ORO division.
Rachel Herndon
Rachel Herndon will serve as director of operations, a role she also held at Colorado State under coach Medved. Herndon joins the Gophers after a year stint with her alma mater.
During her undergrad, Herndon worked with the Colorado State football program as an intern in operations and recruiting. Following graduation from Colorado State, she became an elementary school teacher. During that time, she was the assistant athletic director at Littleton Preparatory Charter School and the junior high boys' basketball coach. She spent five years as an educator before returning to CSU in 2024.
Anthony Holland
Anthony Holland joins the Gopher staff as director of player personnel. Holland was a graduate assistant at Colorado State after completing his playing career at Washington following the 2023-24 season.
Holland appeared in 31 of the team's 32 games his senior season with Washington and averaged 12.4 minutes per game. Prior to his time with the Huskies, Holland played for four seasons at Fresno State before using his COVID year in Seattle. He played in 113 games as a Bulldog and became a regular starter in his sophomore season, averaging 6.6 points and 5.0 rebounds for his career.
Lucas Stieber
Lucas Stieber joins Minnesota as a director of player development. Before his time at Minnesota, Stieber was a graduate assistant at Colorado State in May of 2024. Stieber played four years of collegiate basketball, first at Wisconsin-Green Bay and two years at Gardner Webb.
The Green Bay, Wis., native started his career at Wisconsin-Green Bay and played in 53 games before heading south to Gardner Webb. The guard started 78 of the 116 games he played, including all 32 in 2023-24 for GWU. He averaged 5.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists for his career.
Medved Announces Staff Additions - University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota head men's basketball coach Niko Medved has announced the remainder of his staff additions.
Go Gophers!!