Niko Medved joins the Gophers after spending the last seven seasons as an assistant for Furman University. He held every spot on the Furman staff including being named interim head coach during this past spring. He was instrumental in helping to rebuild a struggling program.

Before his arrival, Furman had posted just three winning seasons in the past 19 years. Medved left Furman posting three consecutive winning seasons as well as four out of the last five including its first appearance in the Southern Conference championship game in over 20 years.

Medved also developed a reputation as strong recruiter both in the states and abroad. He was responsible for landing All Southern conference selections Moussa Diagne and Maleye Ndoye. Fans may remember Ndoye who had a 32-point performance against the Gophers in a 91-86 overtime loss in 2003. Medved also was able to land a couple of Minnesotans on Furman's roster. Former Mr. Basketball finalist Eric Webb from Grand Rapids High School as well as Jadee Jones from Hopkins High School.

Medved started his career at the University of Minnesota in 1992 when he was a student manager and spent one season as a student assistant. He spent his summers working several high profile basketball camps including spending four seasons as an instructor at the prestigious NIKE All-America camp. He completed his B.S. in Kinesiology in 1997 and his Masters in Sport Management in 1999. While attending graduate school, Medved spent two seasons as the Associate Head coach at local Division III school Macalester College.

A native of Saint Paul, Medved attended Roseville Area High School and was a two sport standout in both basketball and golf.