Furman University has hired Colorado State University recruiting coordinator and assistant coach Niko Medved as its next head basketball coach.

Medved succeeds former Paladins coach Jeff Jackson, who resigned March 22, after coaching the team for seven seasons.

Medved's relationship with Furman goes back a long way. He served as an assistant coach under Larry Davis from 1991 through 2006 and as interim head coach for the team in the spring of 2006 for 20 days before joining CSU in 2007.

He led the Paladins to four winning seasons in his stint with the university.

After serving as an assistant coach at CSU to former head coach Tim Miles for six seasons, Medved was named as the director of player development and recruiting coordinator for the team. He is credited with having roped in players such as former Rams Andy Ogide, Pierce Hornung, Greg Smith, Colton Iverson and Bejarano among others.

"He meant everything to us. Someone that I can talk to whenever, someone that he could help me on and off the court," CSU sophomore guard Daniel Bejarano said."He was the one that recruited me; he was the reason why I came to CSU."

Under Miles and Medved, Rams basketball program experienced a tremendous growth in 2010, when they scored 16-16 to qualify for College Basketball Invitational. Earlier, they posted 7-25 and 9-22 in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

The university also made their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2003 when they scored 20-12 in the 2011-12 season.

Medved's second term in Furman will be focused on getting back the team into winning mode as the Paladins have won just 23 games in the Southern Conference in the last three seasons.

"We are excited that Niko Medved is rejoining the Furman community as our new men's basketball coach," said director of athletics Dr. Gary Clark. "Niko knows Furman and the Greenville community and will make an immediate impact on our program. His experience in rebuilding Colorado State basketball will serve him well as we re-launch Furman basketball."