Mid-East Player in NCAA Tournament

[satria_muda]

Jamal Abu-Shamala - Minnesota Golden Gophers - Jordan

Ali Farokhmanesh - Northern Iowa Panthers - Iran

'both lose though, do you know any other name..

[daniab]

many Lebanese names (a long list)

Omar Samhan with St Mary's
Daniel Faris with New Mexico Lobos
Omar Krayem with California Baptist
Bassel Bawji with Tulsa
Charles Tabet with South Alabama
Philip Tabet with South Alabama
Tarek Ammoury with Marymount
Mustapha El akkari with Moberly Junior College
Ali Kanaan with Umass Lowell
Oliver Mansour with Delta State university
Joey Accaoui with Vermont College

[satria_muda]

are they on NCAA tournament played today ?

[daniab]

are they on NCAA tournament played today ?

oh sorry no i thought ur talking about the Mid-Eastern players in the NCAA.
Only Omar Samhan is playing in the NCAA tournament i guess

[satria_muda]

Moore, Purdue hold off Northern Iowa 61-56

Ali Farokhmanesh, the Panthers’ star in the Missouri Valley tournament title game, made a pull-up jumper with 3 seconds left for Northern Iowa, before Moore made a pair of foul shots for the Boilermakers to seal the victory.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=200903190474

'and Abu-shamala scored 6point/2 as 2 rebound in Golden Gophers lost facing Texas Longhorns, btw if we count Turkey as Mid-east there's Turk player in Longhorns team

[daniab]

Satria,are you sure that Ali is Iranian ?
i mean that does he possess the nationality or he's from iranian herritage?
Thanks man.

[satria_muda]

'the one who "smackdown"ed Blake Griffin got mid-east name... Ameer Ali ..

[satria_muda]

Satria,are you sure that Ali is Iranian ?
i mean that does he possess the nationality or he's from iranian herritage?
Thanks man.

his surname surely Iranian, I think he's Iranian herritage, I know about him from Iranian site, 'but his face look like surfing dude though..

[daniab]

his surname surely Iranian, I think he's Iranian herritage, I know about him from Iranian site, 'but his face look like surfing dude though..

yeah i know..his name looks Iranian but i was wondering if he possess the Iranian ID because he was born in USA.

[satria_muda]

@ Daniab

that Omar Samhan is very good player if we judge from his stats, any chance your country naturalizing Him for NT ?

[daniab]

@ Daniab

that Omar Samhan is very good player if we judge from his stats, any chance your country naturalizing Him for NT ?

naturalizing him ? he's Lebanese and possess the Lebanese ID.
The federation is trying to get him to the NT before Asian Championship.

[satria_muda]

naturalizing him ? he's Lebanese and possess the Lebanese ID.
The federation is trying to get him to the NT before Asian Championship.

wow! you lucky, because Lebanon really need good center and from what I read he's so good at that position, and Daniel Faris of New Mexico Lobos also play in NCAA Tournament bro..

anyway here its I found news before Purdue game about that Ali guy, little bit funny, and it seem he doesnt have Iran ID,

UNI basketball names are TV tongue-twisters
Portland, Ore. — Imagine the call ..."Kwadzo Ahelegbe dishes the basketball to Ali Farokhmanesh. Farokhmanesh finds Jordan Eglseder in the lane. Eglseder dunks it home for Northern Iowa!"

It's a dream for Panther fans who will follow today's NCAA Tournament men's basketball opener against Purdue, but a potential sleepless night for play-by-play announcers.

Talk about difficult NCAA matchups.

Wednesday night, "I'll probably say Ali's name a couple times, Kwadzo's name a couple times and Eglseder's a couple times," CBS-TV announcer Kevin Harlan said in the afternoon. "I've got to make sure they roll off my tongue."
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Even Panther freshman Johnny Moran gets a little flustered when it comes to this NCAA Tournament's tongue-twisting name game — set for 1:30 p.m. CDT.

"I knew Kwadzo's name was Kwadzo," said Moran, referring to his introduction during offseason workouts. "But I didn't know he spelled it k-w-a-d-z - whatever it is.

"It took probably a week or two to learn how to pronounce 'Farokhmanesh.' Even Eglseder. There's some crazy names on this team."

Eglseder, a 7-foot 1-inch junior from Bellevue, smiles when talking about people mispronouncing his name - which is EGGLE-seed-er.

"The announcers are starting to get it, but even some of my friends don't say it right," he said. "A lot of people call me EAGLE-seeder."

Farokhmanesh (pronounced fuh-ROAK-muh-nesh) inherited his name from his father, Mashallah, a former member of the Iranian national volleyball team.

"I've been going through that my whole life," Ali said. "Even in college right now, when they take attendance, I always hate that first day of class.

"I know my name is coming up, because the teacher just stands there for about two minutes and thinks about how they're going to say this name."

The name became a source of inspiration for the 6-foot junior guard.

"I definitely embrace it," Farokhmanesh said. "That's my grandpa's name. ... It's something different.

"Not making fun of people with the name 'Bob' or anything, but I think it's more fun to have a unique name like that."

Farokhmanesh and his grandfather are linked by name, but separated by politics.

Mashallah immigrated from Iran in the early 1980s, while competing in the World University Games.

"He met some guys from the United States and they all challenged him to come over," said Farokhmanesh's mother, Cindy Fredrick. "His best buddy was on the soccer team, and so they were like, 'If you do, I will.' "

Ali holds the hope of one day visiting his father's homeland.

"I've never met (my grandfather) before," he said. "It would be nice to go back sometime."

Kwadzo Ahelegbe — pronounced ka-JOE uh-HELIG-buh — landed a name rooted in African culture.

His parents, Kwami and Kafui, grew up in the Republic of Ghana, before settling in Oakdale, Minn.

They named their son Kwadzo, which means "Born on Monday."

"Actually, my grandmother chose that name," Ahelegbe said. "It's just typically when you're born on that day, you'll get Jo-Jo, Joseph. My grandmother picked Kwadzo."

National announcers such as CBS's Dick Enberg, who handled play-by-play duties for Northern Iowa's Missouri Valley Conference title game against Illinois State, likely wish Ahelegbe's grandmother had opted for Joseph.

On Sunday, ESPN's Jay Bilas asked Digger Phelps if he was ready to pronounce 'Kwadzo Ahelegbe.' Phelps said, "Not a chance."

Purdue coach Matt Painter paused during a Monday teleconference before running down the Panthers' roster.

"I can't pronounce some of these names," Painter said. "I know their names, but I don't want to botch them."

Harlan, in his 12th year of calling games for CBS, has a little more practice.

"In the NBA, when we have trouble, we just call them 'Bill' and 'Joe.' We don't worry about the last names," Harlan said. "People just don't know these kids. But you win a game, and they know them pretty quickly."

[princeofpersia1]

Dr Mashallah Farokhmanesh, Ali's father was not only captain of Iranian volleyball NT for 7 years, but now is head coach for Iowa Hawkeyes womens volleyball

[khalid]

many Lebanese names (a long list)

Omar Samhan with St Mary's

Omar Samhan is Egyptian

[sas]

khalid... omar samhan is lebanese and he have the ID too!!!
and the federation is talking with him to play for the lebanese NT...