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The Colorado State basketball season came to an end on Sunday in dramatic fashion. The Rams were beaten at the buzzer by four-seed Maryland to put a stop to a potential Cinderella run.
Hours after that devastating result, the team was hit with more bad news. Head coach Niko Medved will not lead the team in 2025-26.
Sources: Minnesota is expected to hire Colorado State’s Niko Medved as its next head coach.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 24, 2025
Medved led the Rams to a third NCAA Tournament appearance in four seasons this year. He guided the program to 26 wins and a 12-seed in the Big Dance.
Colorado State upset five-seed Memphis in the opening round of play. They had Maryland on the ropes Sunday in Round 2.
Unfortunately, the Terps hit a controversial buzzer beater to avoid the upset bid. Some believed a travel should’ve been called on the final shot. It wasn’t.
“Maybe it was [a travel], maybe it wasn’t. It doesn’t matter. They didn’t call one.”
-Niko Medved
The Rams’ season ended with that 72-71 defeat. Niko Medved didn’t take long to reflect on the near-miss. He bolted for a higher paying opportunity the next day.
Niko Medved will coach at Minnesota next year.
The Golden Gophers are reportedly hiring Medved to replace Ben Johnson, who was fired after three seasons with the program. That termination was particularly ruthless as it came shortly after a season-ending loss in the Big Ten Tournament.
Reports claimed that the athletic director flew 600 miles in the middle of the night to inform Johnson of the decision. He’d just returned to campus only to be dismissed at 2:00 in the morning.
Johnson was fired abruptly hours after his season ended. Niko Medved opted to bail on his team in 24 hours’ time to fill the void.
If the handling of the previous coach’s tenure is any indication, Medved will be on a short leash. He’ll hope to avoid a similar fate after bolting from Colorado State.