Assistant's Departure Creates Opening on Niko Medved's Gophers Staff

One of Minnesota's assistant coaches left for the ACC on Monday.

Jan 13, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Niko Medved reacts during the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Gophers assistant coach Chad Warner was officially announced as an assistant coach at Clemson on Monday, which means Niko Medved has an opening on his staff entering his first full offseason as head coach at Minnesota.

Excited to welcome Coach Warner to our staff!

Release: https://t.co/fAg8lnC9JH pic.twitter.com/jPW3pHFCmC

— Clemson Basketball (@ClemsonMBB) March 30, 2026

Warner joined Medved's first staff at Minnesota last offseason after spending three seasons at Furman. He was an assistant for two and the associate head coach for one. He was previously the head coach at Division II Flagler College in Florida for five seasons and NAIA Shorter University in Arkansas for eight seasons. His 13 years of collegiate head coaching experience and 228-154 overall record made him a well-respected voice in the Minnesota locker room.

The rest of Medved's first bench at Minnesota included Armon Gates, Brian Cooley, Dave Thorson and Aaron Katsuma as assistant coaches this season. Cooley, Katsuma and Thorson all had previous experience working directly with Medved. Gates and Warner were the only two outside hires. Medved will now need to decide if he wants to bring in a fifth assistant for next season, or how he plans to build his coaching staff for year two in Dinkytown. Warner was a valuable voice, so it would make sense for him to look for a replacement.

Medved's head coaching experience gives him plenty of connections across the country. Locally, Minnesota has tremendous coaching talent at all levels of basketball, so there would be plenty of options to replace Warner.