Ali Farokhmanesh still involved in college basketball at Colorado State
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (BVM) — It has been over a decade since Northern Iowa knocked off Kansas in a classic March Madness upset. The No. 9 seed in the Midwest region of the 2010 NCAA Tournament faced off against the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament in Oklahoma City, with a chance to move onto the Sweet Sixteen.
The Jayhawks entered the game with National Championship aspirations after beating Lehigh by 16 in the first round of the tournament. The Panthers on the other hand had played in a tough game against UNLV in which senior guard Ali Farokhmanesh had to hit a go-ahead three with seven seconds left to win 69-66.
Back in 2010, Ali Farokhmanesh led Northern Iowa to a shocking victory over top-seeded Kansas.
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports)
It was the Panthers鈥� first NCAA tournament win in 20 years and against the Jayhawks, Farokhmanesh would perform similar heroics to send UNI to it鈥檚 first ever Sweet Sixteen.
The Panthers had taken the lead early in the game and had held that lead the entire game. But the Jayhawks made a run late in the second half and with 43 seconds left had made a layup to make the score 63-62. It was on the next possession that Farokhmanesh added another historical moment to his career. With 35 seconds left, Farokhmanesh hit a three-pointer to put UNI up four.
Farokhmanesh would also hit two free throws before the game was over, as the Panthers would go on to win 69-67, but it was the three that Panther fans will always remember even. It even earned Farokhmanesh a spot on the cover of sports illustrated. Northern Iowa would lose in the Sweet Sixteen to Michigan State but history was already made.
The senior guard would leave Cedar Falls with his place in UNI history solidified and head overseas to continue his basketball career. He played in the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland from 2010 to 2014, even winning Sixth Man of the Year in the Dutch Basketball League in his last season of professional basketball.
With his professional career over, Farokhmanesh came back to the United States and got back into college basketball. He was the Director of Player Relations and Development at the University of Nebraska from 2014 to 2017 before taking a job as an assistant coach at Drake.
During his one season at Drake, he helped the Bulldogs to their first playoff berth in six years and their most wins in the Missouri Valley Conference in 10 years.
Following his one season with Drake, he followed head coach Niko Medved to Colorado State where he has helped turnaround the Rams鈥� basketball program. His work earned him a spot on the list of the top 40 coaches (head and assistant) under 40 by ESPN in 2020.
This will be his fourth season with the Rams.
