After four seasons with Ben Johnson leading the way as head coach, the Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball program looked to start anew at the head of the program with the hiring of Niko Medved prior to the 2025-26 season.
Medved — a Minnesota native who grew up watching the Gophers, attended the University of Minnesota and spent a year with the Gophers as an assistant coach in 2006-07 — officially took over the program in March of 2025 and brought with it a feel-good story along with high expectations for success after years of disappointment.
Medved brought with him to Minnesota a strong history of success as a coach, notably helping his previous squad, Colorado State, to three NCAA Tournament appearances in four years with an overall record of 143-85. That success is something Gophers fans have been craving since last making the NCAA Tournament in 2018-19 under Richard Pitino.
By the end of the year, the Gophers concluded the season with a record 15-18 overall to go along with an 8-12 record in the Big Ten, of course resulting in Minnesota missing the NCAA Tournament once again and resulting in a first-round exit in the College Basketball Crown tournament.
Now that the first year — or as some call it, Year Zero — in the books, let’s look back on the year that was and why it provides a positive outlook for the future of the Gophers men’s program.
The Highs
There were certainly some highs in the Gophers’ season that brought with it excitement and hope to the Minnesota fan base, though the season didn’t end in an above-.500 record and resulted in the bottom half of the Big Ten standings.
For starters, Minnesota had some impressive wins against ranked teams, notably against No. 22 Indiana in December, No. 19 Iowa in January and No. 10 Michigan State in February. The Gophers also stuck in there with Illinois in January and Michigan in February, going on to lose by 10 to each of those teams who reached the Final Four in April.
Around the time of the Iowa win in January, the Gophers also enjoyed a five-game winning streak spanning from Dec. 14-Jan. 6, winning six of seven games around that same time.
When it comes to the numbers side of things, Minnesota struggled a bit offensively — in part because of injuries, which we’ll talk about in a second — ranking 322nd out of 365 teams in points per game while ranking 193rd in offensive rating, according to the NCAA. However, the Gophers were a solid defensive team, ranking 45th in the country in points allowed and 43rd in scoring defense while having the 66th-ranked Strength of Schedule.
The Gophers also did a nice job sharing the ball, ranking 27th in the country in assists per game while also ranking 27th in assist-to-turnover ratio, meaning they did a nice job of not being careless with the ball. Another thing that may go a little under the radar was Minnesota’s discipline with fouling, ranking 16th in the country in fouls per game.
The Lows
Though there were some definite bright spots in the season, there were perhaps more lows that put a damper on the season and felt like held us back from seeing the full Gophers team that we hoped to see throughout the year.
After winning five straight and six of seven games as mentioned earlier, Minnesota followed that up with seven straight losses spanning Jan. 9-Feb. 1, falling by less than five points in five of those contests.
Then, there were the injuries. And man, the Gophers couldn’t catch a break with the injury bug.
The Gophers’ top rebounder and second-best scorer, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, went down with a foot injury in February and didn’t play the rest of the season. Starting point guard, Chansey Willis Jr., was ruled out for the remainder of the season with a broken foot after just seven games. Starting center, Robert Vaihola, underwent knee surgery after playing the first five games of the year. Forward BJ Omot, who transferred to Minnesota from Cal before the season, never appeared in a game due to undergoing surgery on a lower-body injury.
The Gophers were understandably depleted and caught some bad breaks throughout the year, which makes you wonder what could have been if this team would have been healthy. As a result of those injuries, Medved had to shorten his rotation and oftentimes playing six or seven guys in the second half of the year. That itself gave opponents the upper hand while wearing the Gophers out by the end of the game.
When you have the injuries and things out of your control taking place like Minnesota had throughout the year, that’s tough to overcome. Especially when you’re in the Big Ten and have the caliber of teams that you do within the conference.
The Future
Regardless of the highs or lows that the 2025-26 season presented, it was a successful one that passed expectations for many. And it feels as though Medved is already leaving his mark and is building the program back up before our eyes.
Medved is setting the foundation for this program so it is even stronger in years to come. Whether that’s the culture he has established on the court or on campus, the buzz he has brought back to the Gophers fan base, the fast-paced and upbeat style of play on the court, or the tough-minded men that are part of the program.
Medved is building something special in Minnesota, and that’s not something you can always see in the first year in a program. Regardless of what took place in his first season with his alma mater, Medved has already restored hope among the Gophers fan base.
The foundation is being built. The culture is changing. And now it’s about what talent Medved is able to recruit to Minnesota — and keep them in Minnesota — before next season and into the future.