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Risky: Mark Coyle Betting Big on Niko Medved, Gophers MBB to Win Immediately
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- Risky: Mark Coyle Betting Big on Niko Medved, Gophers MBB to Win Immediately
Photo courtesy of Gopher Athletics
When Mark Coyle hired Niko Medved as the new Minnesota Gophers men's basketball coach, there was no extensive search done beforehand. In reality, there wasn't much of a coaching search at all. Most of the usual candidates were never contacted and Coyle wasn't interested in doing any interviews.
That's because the Minnesota AD knew he wanted Medved before the position ever opened. Instead of running a coaching search, Mark and Niko shook hands under the March Madness table and Coyle waited for Medved's Colorado State Rams to lose in the NCAA Tournament.
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In the past, local alumni, Gopher boosters and the U of M Board of Regents never would have allowed the type (non) coaching search that landed Medved in Dinkytown. But this is a new age of college sports and those entities are far less worried about the hiring process these days, and much more concerned about results.
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University of Minnesota Athletic Department running a deficit
Why the change? Well, it all started with the new U.S. House Settlement that went active on July 1, which allows power five Universities to spend $20.5 million of their 2025-26 athletic budgets to pay student athletes. It's a major shift in college athletics, and one that has flipped the Gopher athletic department budget upside down.
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For the University of Minnesota, $20.5 million accounts for (12%) of its total AD budget this year, according to the Star Tribune , which is why Mark Coyle is projecting a rare $8.75 million budget deficit in the athletic department.
Credit: Photo courtesy of Gopher Athletics
What's Coyle's plan to balance the budget? Immediately… nothing. He met with the University of Minnesota Board of Regents on Wednesday, where he remained fully committed to paying the full $20.5 million to student athletics, as allowed the the House Settlement.
According to the Star Tribune's Chip Scoggins , who was present at the Board of Regents meeting, the University of Minnesota has been planning for this deficit. He writes that the school is prepared to absorb the athletic department hit this year, which is why there was no "sticker shock" at the meeting.
The new shortfall didn't appear to cause sticker shock with regents. Coyle received only one question about it, with co-vice chair Penny Wheeler inquiring about future issues in this new era of college sports.
Coyle committed to pay the full amount of that $20.5 million cap, meaning revenue sharing will account for 12% of expenses this year. He said his department will work with the university to manage the deficit.
Going forward, however, Mark Coyle specifically pointed to Niko Medved and the Minnesota Gophers basketball program, which has been bleeding money for the last four years, under Ben Johnson.
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Mark Coyle betting big on early Niko Medved's success
In fact, the only thing emptier than the NIL cupboards for Gophers men's basketball over the past couple of years, has been Williams Arena during men's basketball games. So, a key to inject more revenue into Minnesota's athletic department, Coyle told his bosses via powerpoint this week, is more ticket and merchandise sales at The Barn.
And the only way to sell more tickets is to win more games. Not only would success on the court lead to more paying fans in the stands, but there are financial bonuses presented to schools that make the NCAA Tournament each year.
Coyle's presentation included a slide about new men's basketball coach Niko Medved, who replaced Ben Johnson in a coaching change after the season. The Gophers are banking on Medved's arrival sparking more success on the court and thus renewed excitement around the program to help improve sagging ticket sales.
Related: Gophers Basketball to Play at the Pentagon
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Mark Coyle fired former Gopher men's basketball coach Ben Johnson immediately after the 2024-25 season ended. But even before he canned Johnson, Coyle already knew who he wanted walking the sidelines at Williams Arena.
At the time of the firing, Niko Medved was just starting a March Madness run at Colorado State that didn't end until the Rams were finally eliminated by a last-second shot in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. For those wondering, that's further than the Gophers have made it since their infamous Final 4 run back in 1996-97.
Coincidentally, Medved was a student manager under then head coach Clem Haskins. He later became a Minnesota assistant under Dan Monson during his final season in Dinkytown (2006-07). Nearly two decades later, Niko is back at his alma mater and now Gophers men's basketball is his team.
Coyle, Medved under self-induced pressure for Gophers MBB to win now
At no time in Gopher history has there been more pressure to win, however. Not only is the athletic department forecasting MBB success, and using it in future budget conversations, but Coyle has also taken a chunk of Minnesota's new settlement budget (about $2 million) away from football, in order to reinvest it into basketball.
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Without a doubt, Mark Coyle is betting big on Niko Medved. Not only did Minnesota's AD put his reputation on the line by firing Ben Johnson, then exclusively hand-picking his new guy. But since Medved's hire, Coyle has only doubled down.
Read More: Gopher Football Conceding Chunk of New RevShare Money to Men's Basketball?
Niko has an increased talent-acquisition budget — between increased NIL and the new revshare settlement — this season that Johnson never could have dreamed of during his tenure.
But even beyond the immediate financial investment into men's basketball, Coyle is essentially leveraging future success of the program as part of his forecast to a more balanced Athletic Department budget to the Board of Regents. That's pretty risky, no…?
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In other words, if Gophers MBB doesn't win games early and often, under Medved, Mark Coyle would have a lot of explaining to do. And I can promise that, if things go bad, betting on a basketball team with very little past success will look so much worse, in retrospect, than it even does right now.
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