Four coaches new to the Big Ten look to get their programs back on track

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) — Dusty May led Michigan to a Big Ten Tournament championship and an appearance in the Sweet 16 last season, his first as coach of the Wolverines, a stunning achievement for a program that finished last in the conference the previous season.

Four coaches new to the Big Ten this season — Indiana’s Darian DeVries, Iowa’s Ben McCollum, Buzz Williams at Maryland and Niko Medved at Minnesota — will try to replicate May’s first-year success story.

“It’s kind of fun to see how it’s all going to fit together,” Medved said at Big Ten media day on Thursday. He replaced Ben Johnson at Minnesota after a seven-season run at Colorado State that included three NCAA Tournament appearances.

“I feel like if we are in April next year and our fan base and stakeholders are more excited about Gopher basketball than they are today then we had a good season,” he said. “I don’t know what that means, maybe win more than I think, but that’s the charge. Can we start to build some of the excitement back into our fan base?”

Wisconsin coach Greg Gard thinks Medved is the right person to get Minnesota back on track.

“He’s worked his way up, and he’s done really well at every place he’s been,” Gard said. “Niko hasn’t changed since the first time I met him years ago. He’s still the same person, despite all the success. That’s the type of person you gravitate to in this profession. I’m sure he’ll do a good job at Minnesota. He’s a really good basketball coach and a good person, too.”

McCollum landed at Iowa to take over for Fran McCaffery. He took Drake to the NCAA Tournament last season and previously won four Division II national titles at Northwest Missouri State.

“You can have success right away,” McCollum said. “It just depends on the players you coach and the staff that you hire. Hopefully we did those the right way and I’m pretty sure we did.”

Competing in the Big Ten will be a challenge, he said.

“It’s a tough league. There are no nights off,” he said. “We need to figure out if we can have an emotional game and then three days later get ourselves emotionally ready to play again. Doing that at a consistent level is what we are trying to get to as a program.”

DeVries took over at Indiana from Mike Woodson after coaching for one season at West Virginia and a six-year run at Drake that included three NCAA appearances.

“Dusty had a very good first season, but for me it’s more about us,” DeVries said. “Our focus is how do we get better every day. How does this group maximize itself and then have an internal belief in what we can accomplish.”

Buzz Williams arrives at Maryland after several coaching stops, the most recent of which was at Texas A&M, where he finished with three consecutive NCAA Tournament bids. The Aggies lost to May’s Michigan squad in the second round of last season’s tourney.

“I think (May) is a star. Wherever he’s been he’s been ultra successful,” Williams said. “But I try real hard to not compare myself to anybody else or any other program. I’m just trying to put together a roster.”

May will try to build on last season’s success. As for the new coaches, they’re on their own.

“The coaches we’ve hired in this league don’t need my advice,” May said. “These guys are proven winners. They’ve been doing it at an extremely high level. They’ve earned their way here.”

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