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Furman ATHLETICSConfident Medved takes command of men’s basketball programNOBODY HAS TO TELL Niko Medved thechallenges he faces as Furman’s new men’sbasketball coach. He was an assistant onLarry Davis’ staff nearly a decade ago, andhe is familiar with the program’s resultsover the last 30 years — 10 winning seasons,one Southern Conference regular-seasonchampionship, zero trips to the NCAAtournament and five different head coaches.So why is Medved so excited about takingon the challenge following Jeff Jackson’sresignation after seven seasons? It’s actuallyMedved’s familiarity with Furman that driveshis optimism, because he can’t understandwhy those numbers shouldn’t be better.“Furman is a special place, an amazingplace,” says Medved, who spent the past sixseasons as an assistant coach at ColoradoState and whose wife, the former EricaNesselroad, is a 2006 Furman graduate.“The campus is beautiful, you can get a greateducation, and the surrounding communityis wonderful. I was gone for seven years, andI come back, and everything is even betterthan before, both on campus and in downtownGreenville. What is there not to likeabout this place? There is a lot here to sell.”That, of course, will be Medved’s basicchallenge — to sell a product that has hadtrouble attracting buyers. The Furman basketballprogram has stirred little sustainedexcitement in the Greenville communitysince the early 1990s, when the team lastwon the regular-season league title, andpoor student attendance at the games hasallowed a whole generation of alumnito come and go without developing anallegiance to the program.Medved, 39, understands all of this andis willing to do whatever it takes to get thingsmoving in the proper direction. He wantsto personally engage the Furman studentsMedved at a glanceHometownSt. Paul, Minn.CollegeUniversity of MinnesotaB.A. (1997), KinesiologyM.A. (1999), Sports managementExperience:Associate head coach, Macalester, 1997-99Assistant coach, Furman, 1999-2006Assistant coach, Minnesota, 2006-07Assistant coach, Colorado State, 2007-13What they say about Medved:“Niko is a terrific hire! He is the total package.Niko can coach, recruit and manage allaspects of a basketball program. He knowshow to build a lasting winner. His energy,enthusiasm and intelligence will resonatewith players and fans alike.”— TIM MILES, head coach, University of Nebraskaand get them excited about attending games.He wants to be a highly accessible and recognizablefigure in the community. And, mostimportantly, he wants to win games, whichwill solve any marketing challenge.“It will take a lot of hard work,” Medvedsays. “There is no quick fix. We need talentedplayers; we need a talented coaching staff.But we can win here. I know that. I wouldn’thave come back here if I didn’t think we couldbe successful.”Medved first came to Furman in 1999 asa member of Larry Davis’ staff and stayed forseven years. It is worth pointing out that fourof Furman’s 10 winning seasons during thepast three decades came during that period,and the 2004-05 team posted the school’s firstwinning record in league play in 13 years.When Davis resigned at the end of the2005-06 season, Medved moved to theUniversity of Minnesota program for a year,then joined Colorado State as an assistantcoach. He was part of a staff that, afterconsecutive seasons of more than 20 losses,guided the Rams to four straight postseasonappearances, including back-to-back tripsto the NCAA tournament in 2012 and 2013.“People ask me about the challengeat Furman, but I can tell you we had a biggerchallenge at Colorado State,” Medved says.“There was a tremendous amount of hard workinvolved in turning that program around.”He has received his share of creditfor Colorado State’s success. When it wasannounced that Medved would be going toFurman, Matt Stephens, a sportswriter withThe Coloradoan, wrote a column sayingRams fans should be grateful for Medved’ssix years of service.“I’d even argue he’s been the most instrumentalpiece for making CSU basketballwhat it is today,” Stephens wrote. “Tim Miles[former CSU coach, now at Nebraska]was the face of CSU’s building projectand Larry Eustachy is keeping it going,but behind the scenes has been Medved,bringing the talent to Fort Collins. He’sone of the most underrated recruiters incollege basketball and has thrived fromactually having integrity and treatingfolks around him with respect.”What can Furman fans expect to seethis fall when Medved’s first team takes thefloor? A more upbeat tempo, for one thing.Medved was in charge of the ColoradoState offense, which led the MountainWest Conference in scoring on its wayto a school-record 26 wins in 2012-13and a third-round appearance in theNCAA tournament, where the Ramslost to eventual champion Louisville.He’s bringing that offensive philosophywith him to Furman.“People can expect to see a lot of ballmovement, a lot of player movement,” hesays. “We’ll be aggressive and we’ll be anattacking team. When we get a good shot,we’ll take it.”Medved says he could count on onehand the number of set plays the Rams ranin 2012-13. “I don’t think people come outto watch a system,” he says. “They come tosee you play with passion and energy. Andthat’s the way we’ll play. We’ll be a funteam to watch.”— VINCE MOOREThe author is director of news and mediarelations at Furman and has been the officialscorer for men’s basketball for 30 years.Photo by Jeremy Fleming.The Corbin-Furman connectionFRANK SELVY ’54 (above, left) is the most storied name inFurman basketball history. Jerry Smith ’63 is not far behind.But other than their accomplishments on the hardwood,their memberships in the Furman Athletic Hallof Fame and their retired jerseys that hang in the raftersof Timmons Arena, what do they have in common?At least two more things: Both are from Corbin, Ky.And both are featured in a new book, The Boys fromCorbin: America’s Greatest Little Sports Town (AcclaimPress), which recounts the stories of a host of athletic stars who came from the little townin the Kentucky hills. “It’s not just a sports book,” author Gary West has said. “It’s abouta community and how families banded together.”The Corbin-Furman connection plays a prominent role in the book. The story of theSelvy clan starts with Frank, the only player to score 100 points in an NCAA Division Ibasketball game and, in West’s view, “the man who put Corbin on the map.” The university’sall-time leading scorer with an average of 32.5 points per game, Selvy went on to play in theNational Basketball Association for nine years, then returned to Furman to succeed LylesAlley as basketball coach. Several of his brothers would follow him to Furman, either asplayers (David ’65 and Curly ’71) or as a coach (Marvin).Smith arrived at Furman almost a decade after Selvy and made his mark as a three-timeall-Southern Conference player who averaged 23.3 points per game for his career. He is theschool’s fifth all-time leading scorer and was drafted by the Detroit Pistons of the NBA.Smith and the Selvy boys are featured in photographs on the book’s back cover. West,a freelance writer and former newspaper reporter, lives in Bowling Green, Ky., and haswritten seven books about various aspects of life in his home state.The book was released April 13 with a well-attended signing and other events in Corbin.Smith and much of the Selvy family were on hand for the unveiling.26 FURMAN | SPRING 2013FURMAN | SPRING 2013 27