Memory Monday: Ali Farokhmanesh

By: James Decker

          

             To me, there is no better time of year in sports than when the calendar turns to March and the madness begins. After Selection Sunday many brackets are filled with wild upset predictions that I pray will happen just so I can be that guy who predicted the upset. I’m all about the typical underdog story. A team that is physically overmatched and less talented that somehow pulls together a string of great basketball and makes the NCAA Tournament what it is. Every major upset has that one defining moment. Whether it be the game winning three by Bryce Drew for Valparaiso, the backdoor cut and layup by Gabe Luwellis to give Princeton the 43-41 win over UCLA, there is always that one moment that everyone who watched that game will remember the upset by.

One of my favorite NCAA Tournament upsets was Northern Iowa knocking off the number 1 overall seeded Kansas. The Panthers had control over the game early and never gave up the lead. Ali Farokhmanesh made his first 4 shots and big man Jordan Eglseder knocked down two threes as well, despite shooting just 1-9 from downtown all year. Northern Iowa had the lead to as big as 11 in the second half, but Kansas stormed back into it by creating turnovers off of some full court pressure. They eventually cut the lead to 63-62. With 42 seconds left Northern Iowa had possession and two passes led to the ball in the hands of Ali Farokhmanesh. The game clock was now at 37 seconds and the shot clock at 30. Conservative basketball minds would think to wait for the offense to get set up and try to run down the shot clock before thinking about shooting. Instead, Farokhmanesh pulled the trigger and knocked down a dagger three-pointer to make the score 66-62. A charge on the other end pretty much sealed the deal to what was one of the greatest upsets in NCAA Tournament History. 

I had the pleasure of getting in touch with Ali Farokhmanesh via Facebook, and he was kind enough to answer a few questions about the game and his shot.

 1. What was your personal mindset prior to the Kansas game?

 “I was excited about the opportunity to play a team like Kansas. They were the consensus number 1 team all year long that season. It was a chance to prove what I could do on a stage like no other in college basketball. There were some nerves but mainly just pure excitement.”

2.  Before the play when you made the shot did you tell yourself that if you had an open look you'd let it fly or did you plan on killing clock?

“I didn't really think about what I was going to do exactly when I got the ball. I just knew that I wanted to win. So, when the opportunity to take that shot opened up, I took full advantage of it. I've shot that shot hundreds of thousands of times, so there was no thinking involved at that point.”

3. How often do people still talk about that shot and that game with you?

“People still talk about it with me every now and then. It's fun to relive it, and see what other people thought or how they reacted. Always get the stories about where people were when they were watching the game. It's fun, and brings back great memories for me too.”

First of all, much thanks goes to Farokhmanesh for taking the time to do this. I used to always friend request random NCAA players on Facebook and when the thought came to try to connect with a former player he was the first to come to mind. His shot was unreal in more ways than one. The fact that he just let it go with 30 seconds on the shot clock could have cost Northern Iowa the game if it hadn’t gone in. This shows that although it is essential to have a high basketball IQ in order to be successful at that level, sometimes basketball is a game of instincts. I love the line “There was no thinking involved at that point”, because I believe that shooters are at their best when they are shooting the ball with no conscience. Ali Farokhmanesh had no conscience when taking that three, which has become one of the most famous NCAA Tournament shots in recent years.