Ali Farokhmanesh reflects on his legacy as the ‘Kansas Killer’ + what he’s learned in his first year as head coach of the CSU Rams

The name Ali Farokhmanesh will forever be associated with March Madness. Northern Iowa, led by a baby-faced killer in baggy shorts, stunned Kansas en route to a magical run to the Sweet 16. The shot, Kevin Harlan’s call, the reaction of the crowd, it’s one of those iconic moments that will live on forever. 

Now 16 years later, the first-year Colorado State head coach still gets celebrated annually for the 3-point shot that broke the hearts of thousands in Lawrence, KS. Exactly one month from now,  social media will be flooded with posts in honor of the anniversary. It’s just one of those crazy moments that perfectly epitomizes everything we love about the chaos of the NCAA Tournament. David taking down Golliath on the ultimate stage? America will eat that up every time; especially when the fatal blow is delivered so dramatically. It’s why people love looking back on the infamous game so much. 

We all remember "The Shot" from the 2010 NCAA Tournament. How about the pass though?

Kwadzo Ahelegbe's assist up court to a wide open Ali Farokhmanesh helped seal one of the most icon moments in March Madness history!#EverLoyal #BlackHistoryMonth pic.twitter.com/OOVYzRCTss

— UNI Athletics (@UNIAthletics) February 22, 2023

Although Farokhmanesh has accomplished a ton over the last 15+ years, including becoming a D1 head coach before the age of 40, raising a beautiful family and more, being the ‘Kansas Killer’ is obviously still what he’s the most known for. When asked on the DNVR Rams Podcast if he gets tired of people bringing up his college days, Farokhmanesh smiled and laid out why he’s good with the fame that still comes with it all these years later. 

“I like when people bring it up,” Farokhmanesh said. “It brings back good memories.”

The 37-year-old continued, explaining that every time people bring up that game it allows him to take a little stroll down memory lane. It makes him think about his teammates and the time that he spent at Northern Iowa playing for legendary coach Ben Jacobsen. It’s a rush of nostalgia that allows him to appreciate the good times that he had as a Panther. 

“It makes me feel good,” Farokhmanesh said sincerely, before joking about the credibility he gets from the shot going viral every spring. 

“I kinda look like I played basketball, but I’m kinda getting past that point now. Like more people are surprised when I say that I played basketball now. So I’m actually appreciative of when people bring it up, because then that recognizes, like, oh, you actually did play basketball.”  

According to Farokhmanesh, the most recent instance of a stranger bringing up the shot was Wednesday night at the Thomas and Mack Center, when a UNLV fan joked about liking his big performance against KU far more than the one he had against the Rebels in that same NCAA Tournament (2010). The most excited he’s ever been for someone to bring up his shot, though, was back when he was a GA for Nebraska under Tim Miles and Gus Johnson hyped him up for it. As Farokhmanesh recalls, the two chopped it up for about 15 minutes, and the whole time he just kept thinking how weird it was that one of his favorite college basketball announcers, someone he was genuinely thrilled to talk to, was equally excited about getting the opportunity to chat with him. “I was like, man, I want to talk to you.” 

As we approach the final stretch of his first season on the job, Farokhmanesh was candid about some of the things he’s learned in his first go-around. He talked about what’s surprised him, including the amount of small decisions he’s responsible for daily. For example, the Rams had troubles with their charter plane on Tuesday night, and so it became his call on how the program was going to respond. 

“Do we get off the plane right now and leave? Or do we try to find another plane to take to Vegas that night? Or do we just let them sleep in their beds here and then leave in the morning?”

Farokhmanesh continued, explaining how even those seemingly simple decisions have various follow-up calls depending on the determined route. 

“What time do you get up in the morning? Do you have breakfast for them waiting here? Are they going to eat it anyways? Do you have smoothies when you get there instead? It’s all those small decisions about how you operate.” 

For Farokhmanesh, all of these new experiences are why he’s thankful to have some continuity on staff, despite about half of last year’s crew following Niko Medved to Minnesota. It’s beneficial from a game-management perspective too, which is certainly different for Farokhmanesh now that he’s the head man in the building. 

In years past, he could kind of bury his brain into the X’s and O’s. He could fixate on things like the scheme of the offense, subs, etc. Now he still thinks about all of those things, but he’s also the general in charge of reading the room. It’s his job to communicate with the refs, and to talk to the guys and look them in the eye during the heat of battle and try to read their temperament. It’s sometimes less about the X’s and O’s now and more about the intangibles within the game. 

While it hasn’t been a perfect run for the 2025-26 Rams this season, the truth is that things rarely go perfectly for anyone at the collegiate level. In the last three years alone, we’ve witnessed firsthand just how much things can change with a team from month to month. You can be a top 20 team in December and then play .500 basketball in January. You can also look dead in the water in November and grow into a true force by March. Growth, both individually and collectively, is not a linear process. And it’s why a lot like his mentors do, Farokhmanesh preaches patience and process over immediate validation. Teams need an opportunity to grow together, particularly when there’s as many new pieces as there were for CSU this season. What that means, though, is that there is going to be failure along the way. 

“You’re going to have ups and downs constantly,” Farokhmanesh said. “And some guys figure it out quicker than others, and you’ve got to figure out how they learn best. That takes time too. And it also takes time for them to build the trust and belief in you to let their guards down. To understand that at some point you have to say to yourself, ‘I’m not good enough yet.’ I think that’s a hard thing to say, especially in today’s world where kids get protected by people constantly and don’t get to go through their failures.”

According to Farokhmanesh, one of the biggest reasons that the CSU staff was able to develop Nique Clifford into a first-round draft pick is that he experienced real lows and instead of pointing the finger or blaming others, like his old coach and school, he accepted that he had a lot of work to do in order to get to where he wanted to be. 

“He took some ownership of it too,” Farokhmanesh explained. “I think that’s a big reason why he is where he is today, is the humility to understand, like, I’m not good enough yet, and that’s not a bad thing. That’s all of us. Like I’m not a good enough coach yet. The problem becomes when you’re not willing to grow anymore.”

When asked if it’s more of a challenge to balance the big picture vs. immediate results as a head coach than it was as an assistant, now that it’s his name attached to the wins and losses, Farokhmanesh said no. He hated losing and loved winning when the record was attached to Medved’s name and that’s still the case today. But that doesn’t mean he’s willing to rush the process or try to force players to grow at a rate that won’t benefit them. 

“I hope our guys are feeling that at the end of the day, we just try to make it the best thing for them to be here. And as long as you are bought into your growth and you’re bought into your own development, I think this is one of the best places in the country for you to be.”

Currently on a four-game winning streak, the Rams will look to keep this run going with a big upset of San Diego State. CSU has a real chance to play into a more favorable seed for the upcoming Mountain West Tournament, but it’s going to take a win or two over a quality opponent to make it happen.

We’ll see how this crew responds and if the Rams can get to the 20-win mark for the first time under Farokhmanesh. Regardless of where CSU finishes in the standings in the end, with the growth we’ve seen out of this team, the outlook looks really good for the future of the program. Just like we all said last spring, the Rams have the right man for the job.