The search for Niko Medved’s replacement as head coach of the CSU men’s basketball team took all of 48 hours to come to a conclusion.
All the Rams had to do was look one seat over.
Assistant coach Ali Farokhmanesh was named the 21st head coach in Rams men’s basketball history by the university late Wednesday afternoon. He replaces Medved after he left to coach his alma mater, Minnesota, a day after CSU was eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on a Maryland buzzer-beater.
“I am thrilled that Ali will continue leading our men’s basketball program, now as head coach,” CSU athletic director John Weber said in a news release announcing the hire.
“Ali has a relentless attitude that he attacks each day with, which was important to us as we looked for the next leader of our men’s basketball program. There has been significant interest in the head coach position at Colorado State. After an extremely comprehensive and competitive national search, Ali’s continued leadership of this program is important and really excites me.”
Farokhmanesh spent the last eight years serving as an assistant under Medved, first at Drake from 2017-18 and then with CSU starting in 2018. Over that time, the Rams rose from the depths of the end of the Larry Eustachy era to reach the NCAA Tournament three times in the last four seasons.
Medved announced on Monday that he was leaving Fort Collins for his hometown team. But Farokhmanesh will not be following him this time.
The former Northern Iowa star is best known for sinking No. 1 seed Kansas in the second round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament with an audacious 3-pointer. The shot followed a game-winning 3 that eliminated UNLV just two days earlier.
This is a developing story.
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