Colorado State who promotes Ali Farokhmansh, legend of March Madness, as the next coach

Colorado State promoted Ali Farokhmansh as head of male basketball coach, announced the school on Wednesday.

Farokhmansh, which has been assistant to the CSU since 2018, replaces Niko Medved, who left to become the head of the coach of Minnesota.

The announcement of the CSU came in the form of the athletic director John Weber who published a video of the iconic shot of Farokhmansh against Kansas in the second round of the NCAA 2010 tournament on X.

Shooting caller #Inflexible pic.twitter.com/nsf60wddjc

– John Weber (@Coloradostated) March 26, 2025

Farokhmansh played college in two colleges junior before arriving in the northern Iowa, where he played for two seasons. As a senior in 2010, the seed panthers n. 9 faced the Jayhawks n. 1 with total seeds. UNI led 63-62 with less than 40 seconds left when Farokhmansh did the ball in a quick break. Instead of keeping the ball to run down the clock and get angry, Farokhmansh took and made a wide open three-pointer. UNI won the game 69-67, before being eliminated by the state of Michigan in the Sweet 16.

Farokhmansh made the coverage of Sports illustrated in the days following his shot against Kansas.

He played four years of professional basketball in Europe before arriving at coaching as a graduate assistant in Nebraska in 2014. He joined the Medved staff to Drake in 2017 and followed him to the CSU.

Now Farokhmansh will remain at the CSU, inheriting a program that will come out of three appearances on the NCAA tournament in the last four years. Seed n. 12 RAMS won Monte West this season, so they beat seed n. 5 Memphis in the first round, their first victory of the tournament since 2013. Only a Maryland cyclino batter has maintained the CSU from its first Sweet 16 since 1969.

(Photo: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)