Niko Medved waits to speak at his introductory news conference on Tuesday at the Athletes Village on the University of Minnesota campus. (Renée Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Gophers Athletics Director Mark Coyle has committed the U to spend $6 million in buyouts for Johnson to leave and Medved to come in from Colorado State. Coyle has vowed to spend more of the incoming revenue sharing on the men’s basketball program and he rewarded Medved with a $3 million salary, which is $1 million more than Johnson received.

The gravitation toward the Gophers for Niko Medved began even before he was born. That's when his father bought the season tickets that would soon spark his young son’s passion for college basketball.