He's already familiar with the program. And now, he gets to lead it.
Colorado State announced Thursday that longtime CSU assistant coach Niko Medved will become the school's new men's basketball coach.
He replaces the recently departed Larry Eustachy, who resigned in late February after a long university investigation into his treatment of players and staff.
Medved returns to the Rams after one full season as the head man at Drake University. He had spent the previous four years as the head coach at Furman, where he won Southern Conference coach of the year honors in 2017.
However, those close to Colorado State might remember him most for the six seasons he spent as an assistant on the Rams' staff from 2007-2013. There, he took on a significant recruiting role, helping bring the likes of notable CSU players Colton Iverson and Dorian Green to Fort Collins.
Medved was part of a staff under then head coach Tim Miles that brought a strong turnaround to the Colorado State men's basketball program. During his tenure, the Rams went from winning just seven games to making back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances just a few years later. The second trip came in Eustachy's first year as head coach.
Now, back at CSU and in charge, Medved inherits a program in need of both success and stability.
The Rams won just eleven games this season. Yet, it's a year that will be remembered more so by the distraction and uncertainty stemming from Eustachy's investigation.
Turning things around seems to be hard ask for any head coaching candidate. But, Colorado State is hoping a former Ram can do just that.
