Hours before tipoff for Colorado State’s first big Mountain West matchup last season, Niko Medved was so dialed in, one of his former players felt like suiting up. The Rams were 13-1 and ranked No. 13 in the country after beating four major conference opponents,

Gophers Athletics Director Mark Coyle has committed the U to spend $6 million in buyouts for Johnson to leave and Medved to come in from Colorado State. Coyle has vowed to spend more of the incoming revenue sharing on the men’s basketball program and he rewarded Medved with a $3 million salary, which is $1 million more than Johnson received.

The gravitation toward the Gophers for Niko Medved began even before he was born. That's when his father bought the season tickets that would soon spark his young son’s passion for college basketball.