The Gophers’ search for its next men’s basketball coach has a frontrunner: Niko Medved of Colorado State, the Pioneer Press has heard this week.

It’s unclear how far along the U is in its hiring process, and no announcement from the U appears imminent.

Medved is from Minnesota and has deep ties to the U, but if it comes to fruition, a homecoming will have to wait a little bit longer.

The 51-year-old coach just booked his third appearance in the NCAA Tournament in seven seasons at Colorado State. The Rams (25-9) have surged into March Madness with 10 straight victories, capped with a blowout win over Boise State in the Mountain West title game on Saturday.

Gophers Athletics Director Mark Coyle said late Thursday morning the U wanted to be “very efficient” in the search to replace Ben Johnson, who was fired early Thursday morning.

“I want to be respectful of where (candidates’ teams) are at,” Coyle told the Pioneer Press on Thursday. “I think it’s only fair to them and to their student-athletes and what they’re trying to do. But again, our goal is to be efficient and find the best candidate that can lead Minnesota to consistent winning the Big Ten Conference.”

Medved, a Roseville native, is currently making $1.7 million in the 2024-25 season, which is less than Ben Johnson’s $2 million. A buyout of approximately $3.7 million is owed to get Medved out of his Colorado State contract through 2030-31.

Medved’s biggest player-development success story is with Minneapolis native David Roddy. The 6-foot-4 Breck School alum became an All-American forward at Colorado State and was selected in the first round of the NBA draft by the Memphis Grizzlies 76ers. The third-year NBA player has played for Memphis, Phoenix, Atlanta and Philadelphia.

Medved graduated from the University of Minnesota and was a student manager at the U before taking his first full-time job at Macalester College in St. Paul. He was an assistant at Furman, Minnesota and Colorado State before his first head coaching job at Furman in 2013-14.

Medved has a career 220-93 record over 12 seasons, including four years at Furman and one season at Drake (2017-18). Furham went from 9-21 to 23-12 and a Southern Conference title in his last year (2016-17).