Courtesy of Colorado State Athletics

FORT COLLINS – Known for taking big shots, he will now call them. Ali Farokhmanesh will become the 21st head coach in Colorado State men’s basketball history.

“I am thrilled that Ali will continue leading our men’s basketball program, now as head coach,” Director of Athletics John Weber said. “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. His ability to connect with people has made him successful throughout his career. I look forward to Ali – along with his wife Mallory and their four children – continuing to be part of the CSU community and building on the championship foundation he has helped lay over the past seven seasons.”

Farokhmanesh has spent the past seven seasons in Fort Collins as an assistant and, most recently, associate head coach under Niko Medved. He will now slide a seat over. Farokhmanesh has been a key part of Colorado State’s recent success. During his seven years as an assistant, he helped the Rams to three NCAA Tournament appearances (2022, 2024, 2025) and advanced to the semifinals of the NIT in 2021. Along with bringing home CSU’s first Mountain West Tournament title in 22 years.

“I want to thank President Amy Parsons, John Weber, Scott Sidwell, and Christina Diaz for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to be the head coach at Colorado State,” Farokhmanesh said. “Serving under Coach Medved has been a privilege, and I will forever be grateful to him for bringing me to Fort Collins. This university and state are special because of the great people. I am grateful for all who have been so welcoming and supportive of me and my family during our time here and look forward to continuing to grow those bonds in our community. I can’t wait to continue to build off the championship foundation our players have established and push it to greater heights.”

Over the past four seasons, Farokhmanesh has played a key role in developing NBA talents David Roddy, Isaiah Stevens and Nique Clifford at CSU. That trio, along with Nico Carvacho, has led Colorado State to have the longest active streak of first team All-Mountain West selections, standing at seven years.

“We have something special happening on the court in Moby Arena, and Ali has been an integral part of building the CSU men’s basketball program into the nationally prominent force that it is today,” President Amy Parsons said. “That momentum and energy will only continue to grow as he steps into the head coach role. I know Ali is committed to CSU, our student-athletes, our fans and the entire Ram Community in the pursuit of excellence on and off the court.”

Colorado State has won 25-plus games in three of the past four seasons and 20-plus five times since Farokhmanesh arrived on the campus.
Farokhmanesh came to Fort Collins from Drake, where he was also an assistant coach under Medved for a season.

Before Drake, he worked as a graduate assistant and then Director of Player Relations and Development at Nebraska. He managed and oversaw the off-the-court responsibilities of the student-athletes, including implementing mentoring programs and community outreach. On campus, he directed recruiting operations, including on-campus hosting duties.

Farokhmanesh’s coaching career follows a storied playing career at Northern Iowa. He helped UNI to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances, including the program’s first-ever Sweet 16. He hit one of the most memorable shots in March Madness history to send the Panthers to the Sweet 16 with his fastbreak 3-pointer with 34 seconds left to knock off top-seed Kansas.

He went on to play four years of professional basketball in Europe, competing for teams in the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland.

Farokhmanesh received his degree in finance from UNI in 2010 and earned his master’s degree in educational administration from Nebraska in 2016. Ali and his wife Mallory have sons Tai, Liam and Luka and daughter Mila.

His parents Mashallah Farokhmanesh and Cindy Fredrick were long-time college volleyball coaches at Iowa, Washington State and UNLV.

An introductory press conference will be held on Friday, March 28 at 11 a.m. inside Moby Arena open to the public.