MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota coach Niko Medved has received a one-year contract extension with a slight raise after a promising first season at his alma mater.
The university board of regents approved the contract amendment this week at its regular monthly meeting, giving Medved a $100,000 pay bump on top of the $100,000 annual increase in his initial six-year deal. Medved is now signed through the 2031-32 season and will make $3.2 million in 2026-27, which ranks 17th out of 18 head coaches in the Big Ten, according to university documents.
The Gophers went 15-18 overall and 8-12 in Big Ten play in Medved's first year, with a lineup depleted by injuries. The former student manager and assistant coach for the Gophers was hired last year after seven seasons at Colorado State. He's entering his 14th year as a head coach, including stops at Drake and Furman.
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FILE - Minnesota head coach Niko Medved gestures during an NCAA college basketball game against Illinois on Jan. 17, 2026, in Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/Craig Pessman, File)
Tropical Storm Bertha churned toward a second landfall in Texas on Thursday after grazing southern Louisiana in a slow crawl that triggered heavy surf and some flooding along the Gulf Coast but kept the heaviest rains offshore.
Bertha was located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Galveston, Texas, late Thursday morning as it crept westward, the National Hurricane Center said. Still packing sustained winds of 45 mph (72 kph), it was expected to remain a tropical storm until moving onshore later in the day.
No deaths or significant damage have been reported since Bertha formed Monday in the Gulf of Mexico south of the Florida Panhandle. The storm triggered some coastal flooding as its center first struck land Wednesday in Louisiana southwest of New Orleans, but its heaviest rains stayed over the Gulf waters.
A tropical storm warning remained in effect Thursday along the Gulf Coast from Morgan City, Louisiana, to Sargent, Texas. The hurricane center said Bertha could still cause up to 2 feet (0.6 meters) of storm surge along the coast and trigger isolated flash flooding from heavy rains in coastal and south Texas.
Tropical storm force winds on Thursday extended as far as 160 miles (260 kilometers) from the storm’s center, the hurricane center said. Still, forecasters expected the storm to weaken rapidly after moving onshore and dissipate over inland Texas by Friday.
In Galveston, local officials urged residents to brace for a “windy day” and secure any outdoor objects that might become airborne projectiles.
“While no significant impacts are forecast, some gusty storms may blow through the island throughout the day," Galveston's Office of Emergency Management said in a Facebook post Thursday.
As the storm approached Louisiana on Wednesday, children splashed in the floodwaters as onlookers watched the surge at the Lake Pontchartrain estuary. Residents mowed their lawns even as streets filled up with water.
Strong gales earlier in the week knocked over a Waffle House sign onto a car in Panama City Beach, Florida. Heavy surf and the threat of rip tides had prompted warnings at Gulf Coast beaches for swimmers to stay out of the water.
Bertha is the second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical Storm Arthur in June brought heavy rainfall to the southeastern U.S.
In the eastern Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Fausto churned far from land Thursday. The hurricane was more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph).
The hurricane center said swells generated by Fausto could cause life-threatening surf and rip tides in parts of southern California.
Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia.
This NOAA satellite image taken at 11:40 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, shows Tropical Storm Bertha in the Gulf of Mexico moving toward the edge of Louisiana. (NOAA via AP)
Children play near breaking waves on West End Pier on Lake Pontchartrain as Tropical Storm Bertha approaches the Louisiana Coast Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
