Drake hires Medved from Furman as new coach

Drake announced Sunday that it has hired Furman's Niko Medved as its new coach.

Medved, the 2017 Southern Conference coach of the year, spent the past four seasons with the Paladins — where he led them to the 2017 Southern Conference regular season title.

Medved, 43, also spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Colorado State under current Nebraska coach Tim Miles.

Before joining Colorado State, Medved spent a year as an assistant at Minnesota under Dan Monson after seven seasons as an assistant at Furman.

Medved was also the Gophers' interim coach in 2006. Medved began his career at Minnesota in 1992 and was the associate head coach at Macalester College from 1997-99.

"Niko Medved brings proven ability as a head coach to build a successful and sustainable men's basketball program to Drake," Drake University president Marty Martin said. "He is a highly effective recruiter, great at player development, and an excellent coach on both sides of the ball."

Drake interim coach Jeff Rutter was also finalist for the full-time job. The Bulldogs played well under Rutter but couldn't sustain their momentum down the stretch.

"Drake University's tremendous reputation partnered with its strong leadership and the thriving Des Moines community makes this a special place. I was born and raised in the Midwest and have so many strong roots in this part of the country. "