Release from CSU Athletics:
FORT COLLINS – Colorado State University and Coach Niko Medved have agreed to an amended contract that will keep Medved in Fort Collins through the 2028- 2029 season, the school announced today. In addition to the amended contract, CSU has added to the basketball staff salary and bonuses pool.
“Niko has done an amazing job crafting the culture of Colorado State men’s basketball,” Athletics Director Joe Parker said. “He is a committed educator who helps young people grow through the coaching and instruction of sport. His relentless pursuit of excellence aligns with our desire to be nationally recognized as a preeminent athletics program across multiple dimensions. We are grateful for Niko’s leadership as he continues to develop our student-athletes and the community around our team.”
“Erica and I are so grateful to be here at Colorado State and a part of the Fort Collins community,” Medved said. “Thank you to President McConnell, Joe Parker and everyone who believes in us and supports us. I am so blessed to coach so many wonderful people and work with so many amazing people. We are so excited about the future!”
In his fourth year as the head coach of the Rams’ men’s basketball program in 2021-22, Medved has continued to show his prowess in program improvement, having led his respective squads to increased win percentage over the previous season in each of his nine years as a leader. That includes all four seasons at CSU, resulting in a 14-win improvement over his four years so far, a 25-5 record overall and 14-4 mark in the Mountain West, as he has the Rams heading into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 when he was an assistant coach at CSU.
This year’s squad, led by Mountain West Player of the Year David Roddy and Second Team All-Mountain West selection Isaiah Stevens, won the US Virgin Islands Paradise Jam, recorded 14 wins in Moby Arena and sold out Moby Arena the last five games, a school record for single-season sellouts in the arena’s 56-year history. The attendance average of 6,174 fans for the entire season is the top mark for the program since the formation of the Mountain West and seventh highest overall attendance percentage based on capacity (76.4 percent), and first in the Mountain West era, in program history.
Last year’s 20-8 record and 14-4 mark in the Mountain West earned him Mountain West Coach of the Year from the league’s media and United States Basketball Writers Association District Coach of the Year honors. He led CSU to its second consecutive postseason invitation, as the Rams played in the National Invitation Tournament, advancing to the semifinals with wins over Buffalo and NC State and eventually finishing 2-2.
The Rams concluded the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season at 20-8, marking the first back-to-back 20-win seasons since 2011-12/2012-13 when Medved was an assistant coach on the staff, and a program-best 14-4 record in the Mountain West. CSU returns three All-Mountain West players, all five starters, nine letterwinners and more than 90 percent of its scoring, rebounds, assists and minutes from last year’s squad.
