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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FILE - Drake head coach Ben McCollum has words with the referee during the first half against Texas Tech in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, March 22, 2025, in Wichita, Kan. (AP Photo/Travis Heying, File)

FILE - Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams reacts during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against LSU in Baton Rouge, La., March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton, File)

FILE - Minnesota's head coach Niko Medved gestures while arriving for an NCAA college basketball news conference, March 25, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)

FILE - West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries looks on the court during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Texas Tech, Feb. 22, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Annie Rice, File)

Renee Good ’s family is accusing federal immigration officers of killing the Minneapolis mother of three as she attempted to follow agents' instructions, and said Wednesday they have hired the same law firm that represented George Floyd ’s family to press for answers and accountability.

Her loved ones said in a statement they want Good, 37, remembered as “an agent of peace” and urged the public not to use her death as a political flashpoint, according to the Chicago-based firm Romanucci & Blandin. The firm said it is investigating Good's death and will release information in the coming weeks.

The family's decision to hire the firm came the same week the U.S. Justice Department said it sees no basis to open a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting. An FBI probe of Renee Good’s death is ongoing.

Roughly half a dozen federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned this week, and several supervisors in the criminal section of the Civil Rights Division in Washington gave notice of their departures, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Trump administration has defended the ICE officer’s actions, saying he fired in self-defense while standing in front of Good’s vehicle as it began to move forward. That explanation has been panned by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and others based on videos of the confrontation.

Romanucci & Blandin said the family wants answers about the federal officers were doing on Jan. 7 in the neighborhood where Good was killed, as well as officers’ actions during the encounter and delays in medical aid after the shooting. The ICE agent who fired is Jonathan Ross, an Iraq War veteran who has served as a deportation officer since 2015.

Good’s partner, Becca Good, and other relatives say on Jan. 7 the couple had just dropped off their 6-year-old child at school and stopped to observe the law enforcement activity. Video shows a red SUV driven by Renee sitting perpendicular and blocking part of the road. She is pressing the horn repeatedly.

A short time later, a truck carrying immigration officers pulls up, two get out and one of them orders Renee Good to open her door. She reverses briefly, then turns the steering wheel toward the passenger side as the officer says again, “get out of the car.” Almost simultaneously, Becca, standing on the passenger side and trying to open the door, shouts, “drive, baby, drive!”

The SUV pulls forward and gunshots are heard as an officer who in front of the vehicle opens fire.

“What happened to Renee is wrong,” the firm said, adding that they intend to share their findings “on a rolling basis” because they believe the community is not receiving adequate information elsewhere. The firm, which helped secure a $27 million settlement for Floyd’s family, is now representing Becca Good as well as Renee Good's parents and siblings.

Becca Good released a statement to Minnesota Public Radio on Friday saying the couple had stopped to support their neighbors: “ We had whistles. They had guns.” Becca Good and her family have not responded to calls and messages from The Associated Press.

Becca Good has referred to Renee as her wife. The law firm said Renee and Becca were “not legally married but were committed partners dedicated to their family."

People attend a candlelight vigil at US Embassy in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, for US Citizen Renee Good, who was shot by ICE in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

A person walks past signage for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)