CSU PICKS MEDVED AS MEN’S BASKETBALL COACH
FORT COLLINS» Colorado State has turned to a familiar face to lead its men’s basketball program.
Niko Medved was a CSU assistant coach from 2007-13. He is returning to the Rams to replace head coach Larry Eustachy, who resigned in late February during an internal investigation into his treatment of players. Medved, who coached at Drake this season, will be introduced as CSU’s new coach at a 10 a.m. Friday news confer- ence at Moby Arena, an event that is open to the public.
“We are extremely excited to have Niko assume the leadership of our basketball program,” CSU athletic director Joe Parker said in a news release. “Throughout our discussions, he showed a great understand-
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ing of what basketball means to Colorado State University and the community while demonstrating how much he has developed in his five years as a head coach.”
Medved, 44, guided Drake to a 17-17 record this season, his only season at the Missouri Valley Conference school in Des Moines, Iowa. It was Drake’s best record since the 2011-12 season. Before that Medved served as Furman’s head coach and raised the team’s wins from nine to 23 over a fouryear span. Medved’s career head coaching record is 79-87.
Then-CSU coach Tim Miles hired Medved as an assistant in 2007, and he quickly developed into one of the Rams’ top recruiters. When Miles left for Nebraska in 2012, Medved was the lone holdover on the staff. He coached one season under Eustachy, during which the Rams reached consecutive NCAA Tournaments for the first time since 1989 and 1990.
“My family and I are ecstatic to have the opportunity to return to Fort Collins and Colorado State University to become the head men’s basketball coach,” Medved said in a news release. “This is obviously an incredibly special place to me, and to my family. Some of the best memories I’ve had personally and professionally happened at Colorado State. We have tremendous leadership from the top down and we look forward to partnering with everybody in the Fort Collins and Colorado State communities to build Colorado State basketball into one of the premier programs in the Mountain West.”
Among Medved’s more prominent CSU recruits was Dorian Green, a guard from Lawrence, Kan., who signed with the Rams in 2009. Green started all four years at CSU, played in a school-record 130 games and ranks among the top five in program history for assists, 3-point field goals and made free throws. Green spent one season as an assistant coach under Medved at Furman before accepting a graduate manager role at Nebraska last year.
“(Medved) was 100 percent the reason I came to CSU. He and Miles, but really he was the guy who recruited me. The same with Pierce (Hornung), Wes (Eikmeier), the Smiths (Greg and Dwight) and all the Midwestern guys,” Green said. “He’s a guy who’s teaches the game and is focused on developing players. He’s a great recruiter and someone guys want to play for and fans want to cheer for. Everyone around CSU should be excited that he’s coming back.”
Andy Ogide transferred to CSU from Ole Miss in 2007, earned second-team all-conference honors as a senior, competed for the Nigerian team in the 2016 Rio Olympics and now plays professional basketball in Italy. He, too, is pleased with the hire.
“So happy for Niko and the CSU community,” Ogide said. “What he’s done since he has left CSU has been incredible, and I have no doubt he’ll do the same in Fort Collins. He recruited me to CSU, so I might be biased, but his work speaks for itself. Niko’s a great coach, but I think the great relationships Niko is able to build and maintain will help bring the community back together.”
CSU enlisted the help of Fogler Consulting, a college basketball coaching search firm, to assist in its decision to hire Medved. CSU also interviewed Montana head coach Travis DeCuire, South Dakota head coach Craig Smith, Utah assistant DeMarlo Slocum and Oklahoma assistant Chris Crutchfield, a source close to the search told The Denver Post.
Medved inherits a CSU roster in potential flux with at least two players — center Nico Carvacho and forward Kris Martin — announcing on Twitter that they will explore transfer options with a return to CSU still possible. The Rams finished 11-21 overall (4-14 Mountain West) this season.