New Gophers men’s basketball coach Niko Medved finished summer workouts with his first team at Minnesota on Thursday, and it took him less than two minutes into a group interview to bring up a huge mentor, Clem Haskins.
Medved was a student manger under Haskins in the mid-1990s. Two decades and one big scandal later, Medved is still fond of that particular predecessor despite him being forced to resign amid widespread academic malfeasance in 1999.
Medved and Haskins caught up in-person earlier this month in Las Vegas as Medved watched his former Colorado State star and first-round NBA draft pick Nique Clifford play for the Sacramento Kings in the NBA Summer League.
“It’s kind of a full circle moment for me,” Medved said Thursday before practice at Athletes Village. “And I told Coach (Haskins), I said, ‘It doesn’t feel right when I’m down in Williams Arena and I’m sitting in your chair, in your office, something doesn’t feel right about that.’ But that was a really cool moment for me that just kind of felt like, wow, I’m back, and I have the job of a guy and a situation that I just admired so much.”
Haskins, 82, was last inside Williams Arena for his former star player Willie Burton’s No. 34 jersey retirement at halftime of a game against Michigan State in January 2020. Burton insisted Haskins make the trip north from his home in Campbellsville, Ken.
While the Gophers new head coach is clearly a fan of Haskins, how much willingness — much less, desire — does the U athletic department and university leadership overall have to bring Haskins back to the Barn for some sort of commemoration?
Haskins coached at the U for 13 seasons and his 1989 Sweet Sixteen and 1990 Elite Eight appearances are still in the record books, but the final six seasons were vacated after team tutor Jan Gangelhoff admitted to writing more than 400 papers for at least 18 players over a five-year stretch. A internal investigation from the university, which was backed by an NCAA report, said Haskins participated in the fraud.
Former Gopher Willie Burton hugs his former coach Clem Haskins during a half-time ceremony honoring the former team at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis, Minn., on Tuesday, December 29, 2009.(Pioneer Press: Ben Garvin)
When Medved was hired in March, he was asked if he will advocate for hanging banners back up in the rafters of The Barn, primarily the one for the program’s pinnacle: the 1997 Final Four.
“I don’t know that the banners aren’t in The Barn, so that’s something we need to talk about,” Medved said during his introductory news conference.
Medved shared Thursday that Haskins remains “sharp as a tack,” but his mobility has decreased with age and the wear and tear from nearly 700 NBA games over nine seasons with Chicago, Phoenix and Washington from 1967 to 1976.
With former star guard Bobby Jackson, Medved and others breaking bread in Vegas, Haskins shared old war stories, including playing against Wilt Chamberlin.
Later on Thursday, Medved was asked about building his first roster at his alma mater, which has a clear emphasis on 3-point shooting in its makeup.
“As a great coach told me once — you probably know who I’m talking about here — Coach Haskins. He said, ‘Niko, you can run all the pretty little plays you want in the world. At the end of the day, you better have a guy who can ring the bell,’ ” Medved said. “You got to get some guys who can make shots, and I think we’ve been able to do that.
“Shooting is a huge premium here. And I think we’ve got some guys who can put in the basket. Now it’s a lot different, putting in the basket here against our (graduate assistants) in a workout (compared to) drilling it with the hand in your face at (Purdue’s) Mackey Arena in January.”
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