Minnesota agreed to a six-year contract with the Twin Cities-area native and former student manager for the Gophers who had the Rams within one basket of the Sweet 16.

The former Colorado State coach is taking over at his alma mater Minnesota on a six-year deal. Colorado State lost to Maryland on a buzzer-beat in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday night. He takes over for Ben Johnson, who was fired earlier this month.

If not for a buzzer-beater by Maryland on Sunday night, Niko Medved would still be coaching in the Sweet 16 with Colorado State this week. But if that loss did one thing, it sped up the process for Medved to return home to his alma mater and get started on injecting life into the Gophers men’s basketball program.