FORT COLLINS — Kyan Evans had hugs to spare. But no hints.
“We need big-time, we need Boise State from you tomorrow,” Evans, the CSU Rams’ absolute revelation at guard, said to Nique Clifford, clutching his old teammate quickly before leaving the floor at Moby Arena.
“Boise State?” I asked Clifford.
“Yeah, we’ve got a team deal in Denver (on Saturday),” the ex-Rams men’s basketball standout and future NBA Draft pick explained.
“So what would you tell them tomorrow if they ask about, say, the transfer portal?” I wondered.
Clifford smiled. Knowingly. Been there. Nailed that.
“(Returning players) have asked me for advice,” Clifford told me Friday after his old coach and mentor, Ali Farokhmanesh, was introduced as CSU’s new men’s basketball coach. “I just tell them, ‘Stick with what you know. You’re going to be in a good situation (here). It’s not worth going into the portal and chasing a bag, and it’s a long-term investment.’
“That’s how I look at it, rather than just the short-term (of), ‘Go get it. Get some money real quick,’ and end up in a bad situation.”
Farokhmanesh nailed his introductory news conference at Moby from way downtown, firing daggers with the same bravado that he did as a fearless, smallish Northern Iowa guard against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament 15 years ago.
Time flies when you’re having fun. CSU athletic director John Weber landed the right guy while also taking an Olympic leap of faith in the same breath. CSU is 15 months away from the Pac-12, where playing, say, Gonzaga, home-and-away, goes from delectable concept to brutal reality.
Farokhmanesh has excelled on college basketball’s biggest stages — first as a player, then with every hat he’s worn since as an assistant coach from Nebraska to Drake to CSU. But he’s also never done this before, and the Rams are a moving train with NCAA tourney expectations that could also use all the NCAA unit payouts they can get their mitts on.
Fort Fun is Fort Farokhmanesh now, with a community that’s fallen in love with its favorite former associate head coach and vice versa. Coach Ali is the anecdote king, publicly and privately, and his recollection of a pack of seven or so locals earlier this week coming up to his minivan as he was parking it, only to clap and cheer him as he got out of the thing, sounds very on-brand.
Farokhmanesh is a people person, first and foremost. If you don’t like him, it’s because you haven’t met him. Or because you’re a Jayhawks fan, and old March wounds in Lawrence never truly heal.
That said, college basketball has always been a game where nice guys historically finish last. The Minnesota Golden Gophers, Niko Medved’s new team, need all the help — and bodies — they can snap up in a Big Ten that eats its own.
Ali’s first big challenge is keeping as much of this roster as he can in green and gold before the sexy parts get picked clean. Starting with Evans, who averaged 10.6 points and 3.1 assists per game and morphed into Steph Curry Lite after Christmas.
“It’s not a re-recruitment, it’s just a different conversation at the end,” Farokhmanesh told me. “And in today’s age, (where) everyone is a free agent, I don’t know if you’re ever going to be able to say, ‘Oh yeah, we’re bringing everybody back’. That’s just, that’s the reality of the situation. I mean, look at San Diego State, look at some of these other programs that I know do it the right way, (where) kids are deciding to leave from — and that’s very unique to this day and age. You hope for the best …
“You just do what you can to make them feel wanted, to make them feel valued, and to help them reach their dreams. And I think that’s all you can do. And if they stay, if they don’t stay — that’s not my decision at the end. You’ve got to leave it up to them, too.”
On one hand, seeing potential returnees such as Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, Nikola Djapa, Kyle Jorgensen and Evans turn up for Coach Ali’s first presser was probably a good sign if you’re Stalwart at heart.
On the other hand, money talks. Evans and current CSU players weren’t made available to attending media Friday. Former Rams were, though. And they could see the band sticking together for at least one more ride.
“I hope that people get to realize who (Farokhmanesh) is as a recruiter and as a person,” Jalen Lake said. “He mentioned Isaiah Stevens and David Roddy, and everybody (who decided to) stick around — I think people are going to do the same right now.”
“Including Evans?”
“I don’t know,” Lake said. “I hope so.”
Denver awaits on Saturday. If Clifford knows what’s coming after that, he’s keeping it under his hat.
“(Kyan) has been asking me for some advice, just giving him some guidance, but I’m excited for him,” Clifford said. “Of course, a lot of people are going to want (him), but I think he’s got a good head on his shoulders. He got a good support system, and so he’s going to be perfectly fine.”
College hoops was once loaded with great wits, and ex-Purdue great Gene Keady, whose coaching tree still bears fruit, was one of the greatest. Keady quipped once that “recruiting is like shaving. If you skip a day, you look like a bum.”
To that end, Farokhmanesh made it a point about 14 minutes into his first head-coaching news conference to have the ’24-25 Rams who were on hand rise for a standing ovation.
As Evans and the others sat back down, a cry came out from the back of the peanut gallery.
“Don’t let ’em leave!” someone shouted.
Coach Ali smiled.
“The hard questions were supposed to be for later,” Farokhmanesh replied.
The crowd laughed at that one. But the hard work, the real work, starts now.
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
