A former March Madness hero is moving up the ranks.
Ali Farokhmanesh has been named as the next head basketball coach at Colorado State. Farokhmanesh is best known to college basketball fans for helping lead Northern Iowa to an upset win over top-seeded Kansas in the second round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
After his college career ended, Farokhmanesh played overseas until 2014. Then he went into coaching, beginning as a graduate assistant. He joined Niko Medved’s coaching staff at Drake in 2017-2018 and followed Medved to Colorado State. Farokhmanesh was an assistant on Medved’s staff from 2018 until this season and was promoted to head coach after Medved left to take the Minnesota job. Under Medved, the Rams went 26-10 this season, won the Mountain West, and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing.
Now Farokhmanesh will be tasked with keeping things rolling in Fort Collins.
“Ali approaches every day with a relentless mindset, which was crucial to us as we searched for our men’s basketball program’s next captain. The Colorado State head coach post has drawn a lot of interest. Ali’s continued leadership of this program is significant and truly thrills me after a very thorough and competitive national search. Colorado State athletic director John Weber praised the hire, saying, “His ability to connect with people has made him successful throughout his career.”
