UNI March Madness Hero Gets First College Coaching Job

A name that will live forever in the history of UNI men's basketball is now a head coach for the first time.

In 2010, number 9 seed UNI out of the Missouri Valley Conference played the overall number one seed in that year's NCAA Tournament Kansas in a second-round matchup. The Panthers were huge underdogs. But in that tournament, Cinderella wore Panther purple. UNI led late in the game, but the Jayhawks were on the comeback. With under one minute left to play, UNI guard Ali Farokhmanesh hit one of the biggest shots in NCAA Tournament history.

The Panthers would go on to win and advance to the Sweet 16. It was the first time in school history they had advanced to the round of 16. Farokhmanesh remains a March Madness legend and now can call himself something else for the very first time. A head coach. Farokhmanesh has been named the next head coach at Colorado State, according to Sports Illustrated.

SI reports that Farokhmanesh will replace Niko Medved who was recently named the new head coach at the University of Minnesota. Farokhmanesh joined Medved as an assistant at Drake in 2017 and followed him to Colorado State the next year. SI reports that he served this past season as offensive coordinator and the program's top recruiter.

SI reports that this will be the first head coaching position for Farokhmanesh. Colorado State lost in the second round of this year's NCAA Tournament on a last-second buzzer-beater against Maryland.

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