Niko Medved is confident Drake can become a consistent winner in basketball. Medved was introduced as the Bulldogs new coach after a four year run at Furman that saw the Paladins go from a nine win team his first year to 23 wins and a Southern Conference regular season title this season. He takes over a Drake program that has averaged fewer than eight wins the past three seasons.

While many view Drake’s academic standards as a hindrance to winning basketball Medved views them as a positive. He says also, Drake has the resources required to win. Medved says he plans on winning the trust of the current players who were hoping Jeff Rutter would get the job. Rutter coached the Bulldogs after Ray Giacoletti resigned in December. Medved is a native of Minneapolis and says the chance to return to the Midwest helped make the job more attractive.

(Learfield Sports)