On Monday afternoon, the Minnesota athletic department and athletic director Mark Coyle announced the hiring of now-former Colorado State head coach Niko Medved. He takes over the program following the dismissal of Ben Johnson, who was fired earlier this month after leading the program for four seasons.
In their announcement of Medved’s hiring, the University of Minnesota noted that the 51-year-old head coach will begin his tenure with a six-year contract. His initial deal is one year longer than Ben Johnson received upon his hiring in March 2021.
The six-year contract is a strong vote of confidence from Mark Coyle in Medved and his ability to turn around the Minnesota program. It also suggests that both parties understand it won’t be a quick rebuild.
The six-year deal gives Medved enough runway to rebuild the Gophers properly, without the immediate worry of being fired for potentially suboptimal results early in the process.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE“This job was too special to pass up and when the opportunity presented itself, I had to take it,” Medved said in a released statement. “I grew up a Gopher about 15 minutes away from The Barn. I went to school here, was a student manager here and coached here. This is a special place, it’s home, and I cannot wait to get started.”
Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle also released a statement as part of the press release.
“”This is an exciting day for our program, our University and our state,” Coyle said. “I am thrilled to welcome Niko, his wife Erica and their daughters, Aly and Taylor to Minnesota. Niko is a Minnesota alum with a proven head coaching track record. He is extremely passionate about coaching and developing young men and takes great pride in being from Minnesota. He has had success everywhere he has been, and we look forward to him leading our men’s basketball program at his alma mater.”
Minnesota did not release the value of Medved’s six-year deal but it’s expected that the Minnesota native will earn north of $2 million, likely pushing closer to the $2.5 million mark, at the least.
This season at Colorado State, Medved was scheduled to make $1.7 million after signing a contract extension following the conclusion of the 2023-24 season. By the end of that extension, set to expire after the 2030-31 season, Medved was set to earn $2 million.
Comparatively, according to USA Today, Ben Johnson made $2,079,315 in the 2024-25 season and was set to earn the same amount in 2025. His salary was the lowest among the 17 reported contract figures in the Big Ten, with only USC’s Eric Musselman’s pay being unknown.
Medved, a proven head coach, unlike Ben Johnson, who had no previous head coaching experience at the time of his hiring in 2019, should likely come close to matching Ohio State head coach Jake Diebler’s $2.5 million salary if not more thanks to his proven track record. Medved’s contract value being closer to $3 million should not be overly surprising.
Notably, Ohio State and Minnesota are the only Big Ten programs paying their head men’s basketball coaches under $3 million for the 2024-25 season.
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