Mid-East Player in NCAA Tournament

[mohsena2631]

Son of Iran Becomes Unlikely Big Shot for Northern Iowa


By DAVE CALDWELL
Published: March 19, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY — Ali Farokhmanesh’s father, Mashala, played volleyball for Iran in the 1980 Summer Olympics, but that was not as prestigious as it might seem. For one thing, Mashala played most of his games on concrete courts. And volleyball players need to dive.

nytimes.com

I think Mr. Dave Caldwell in New York times need to search more before writing ! unfortunately Iran volleyball NT never qualified for the olympics (I hope to see them in London) and also Iran didn't even compete in Moscow 1980 Olympics !!!

[mvblair]

Samhan and Farokhmanesh are playing incredible basketball. Samhan was the star before the tournament started, but Farokhmanesh's game yesterday was unbelievable. He killed Kansas.

University of Northern Iowa 69, University of Kansas 67 - by John Marshall, AP, March 21, 2010

Leading by one against the colossus of the bracket, Ali Farokhmanesh stood at the 3-point line, no one around. The prudent play? Pull it out, burn some clock.

Not a chance.

Taking his shot at history, Farokhmanesh let fly from the wing.

Swish!

The biggest upset in a tournament full of them was done. Northern Iowa had taken down mighty Kansas.

Playing with poise down the stretch and getting another big 3-pointer from Farokhmanesh, Northern Iowa pulled off one of the biggest NCAA upsets in years by knocking No. 1 overall seed Kansas from the bracket with a program-defining 69-67 win on Saturday.

“If anybody’s going to shoot that shot, I want it to be Ali,” UNI’s Jake Koch said.

This year’s NCAA tournament has been defined by its upsets. Eight double-digit seeds got through the first round. No. 10 Saint Mary’s beat Villanova on Saturday and No. 11 Washington shoved aside New Mexico.

This was the biggest shocker of all.

Winning the tempo tug-of-war, ninth-seeded Northern Iowa (30-4) grounded the high-flying Jayhawks with in-their-jersey defense, then withstood a furious rally for the first win over a No. 1 seed in the second round since UAB and Alabama did it to Kentucky and Stanford in 2004.

First-round hero Farokhmanesh had the biggest play of all.

With Kansas charging and its fans roaring, the fearless son of an Iranian Olympic volleyball player caught the ball on the wing after the Panthers broke Kansas’ press. The shot clock still in the 30s, he hesitated for just an instant, then cast his bracket-busting shot with 34 seconds left in the game.

Trailing 66-62, Kansas had one last chance, but Tyrel Reed was called for an offensive foul and Farokhmanesh sealed it with two free throws with 5 seconds left, sending the Panthers to the round of 16 for the first time.

...Farokhmanesh, who finished with 16 points, jumped into a huddle of teammates, and Koch embraced older brother Adam to a chant of “U-N-I!” ...

Yes, this was monumental....

[PRSURF]

Omar Samhan is great!

[satria_muda]

iranians also has arsalan kazemi in ncaa

he wasnt on NCAA tournament though,

another nice article about Ali..

Son of Iran Becomes Unlikely Big Shot for Northern Iowa




By DAVE CALDWELL
Published: March 19, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY — Ali Farokhmanesh’s father, Mashala, played volleyball for Iran in the 1980 Summer Olympics, but that was not as prestigious as it might seem. For one thing, Mashala played most of his games on concrete courts. And volleyball players need to dive.

“He taught me about work ethic," said Ali, who has become a nationally known senior guard for the Northern Iowa basketball team overnight.

Farokhmanesh swished in a jump shot of nearly 30 feet with 4.9 seconds left to lift the Panthers to a 69-66 victory Thursday over Nevada-Las Vegas in the opening round of the N.C.A.A. tournament. U.N.I. (29-4), the No. 9 seed in the Midwest, will play top-seeded Kansas (33-2) on Saturday.

Although U.N.I., in Cedar Falls, is making its fifth tournament appearance in seven years, the Panthers are generally seen as big underdogs — a potential Cinderella. During a news conference Friday, U.N.I. players were asked how many of them would start at Kansas.

“I don’t know the answer to that one,” Adam Koch, a senior forward, said.

The players feel as if they have earned the right to play the Jayhawks. The Panthers, most of whom come from the upper Midwest, work hard and get along. Farokhmanesh, who averages 9 points a game, is one of the main reasons for their success, and for a reason.

He has had to make a name for himself. When he played at West High School in Iowa City, the public-address announcers flubbed the pronunciation of his last name (fuh-ROAK-muh-NESH) so many times that they referred to him simply as Ali when he made a basket.

Northern Iowa wanted him then, but Farokhmanesh had to go to Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids to improve his grades. Ben Jacobson, who had just become the U.N.I. head coach after serving as an assistant, kept after Farokhmanesh.

“He’s carried himself with a level of confidence that has just helped this program,” Jacobson said Friday.

Farokhmanesh grew up on the West Coast before his family moved to Iowa when he was a teenager because his mother was a native. Farokhmanesh tried playing volleyball, but he moved to basketball because most Iowa boys play the sport.

“It’s something he doesn’t really talk about,” Koch said of Farokhmanesh’s athletic background, “but to have one of your parents be in the Olympics, that’s pretty big-time. I guess we’re just fortunate he’s playing basketball."

His parents have struggled at times; Farokhmanesh says his father has told him stories about how he used to fill up on 49-cent McDonald’s cheeseburgers. His father’s decision to leave Iran was abrupt and not without its drawbacks.

Ali says he has never seen his father’s grandparents or his aunts and uncles in Iran.

His father has taught him only rudimentary Farsi — “not enough to keep a conversation going," he said — because he did not want to appear to be keeping secrets from Ali’s mother.

“I’d like to go back there at some point," Ali said.

Because of the political turbulence in Iran, he knows that the chance to visit might not come for a while. But the values he learned from his father, and, by extension, his family have helped him become a better basketball player. He says he shoots 600 to 700 jump shots a day.

“He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met," said Jordan Eglseder, U.N.I.’s 7-foot, 280-pound center. “The shots he makes are unbelievable. Someone could be right in front of his face, and it wouldn’t faze him at all.”

Farokhmanesh knows Kansas will be a formidable opponent. U.N.I. has made it this far by playing tight defense, and the Jayhawks run the floor as if they are being timed. If he can make some long-distance shots, Northern Iowa probably has a better chance.

“When you’re a small program like this, you want to get your name out there,” he said.

Northern Iowa does not carry the players’ last names on the backs of their purple jerseys. Farokhmanesh says that is fitting, because it has been a team effort. He was surrounded by television cameras in the locker room Friday, but he could see over the bright lights.

“Look over there," he said, pointing to about a dozen of his teammates watching him. "They’re all laughing at me.”

nytimes.com

[payampayam]

Ali Farokhmanesh at one of his best perfomance last night 17 Pts, 2 Rebs, 3 Assists and made a winning shot...

iranians also has arsalan kazemi in ncaa

[satria_muda]

Ali Farokhmanesh at one of his best perfomance last night 17 Pts, 2 Rebs, 3 Assists and made a winning shot...

Northern Iowa ends 20-year NCAA drought on late 3

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)—With the final seconds ticking away and Northern Iowa without a timeout, the chance to break an NCAA tournament funk came down to a bit of improvisation.

Kwadzo Ahelegbe dribbled down the clock and Ali Farokhmanesh found himself open against UNLV’s trapping defense for the decisive 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds left as the Panthers ended a 20-year drought in the NCAA tournament with a 69-66 victory Thursday night in the Midwest Regional.

“That’s what you dream for is to make a shot like that,” Farokhmanesh said. “It just felt good to actually do it.”

After burning its final timeout with 1:22 to play, Northern Iowa (29-4) gave the Runnin’ Rebels the chance to tie when Ahelegbe drained the clock and couldn’t get an open shot against UNLV’s pressure. The shot clock ran out, and Oscar Bellfield tied it at 66 with his 3-pointer from the left corner with 37 seconds left.

Take 2 resulted in far better results for ninth-seeded Northern Iowa, even if “closer to a fire drill than a set call” was how coach Ben Jacobson described it.

Ahelegbe ran the shot clock down to 9 seconds before he swung the ball to Johnny Moran on the right wing. He whipped it to the opposite side to Farokhmanesh, who took advantage of an opening in the defense to sink the game-winner.

The No. 8 seed Runnin’ Rebels (25-9) got one last chance to tie it, but Tre’Von Willis didn’t get his 3-pointer off before the final buzzer and it was off-target anyway.

Northern Iowa advanced to face No. 1 overall seed Kansas, which beat Lehigh 90-74, on Saturday.

Farokhmanesh finished with 17 points, including three 3-pointers in the second half, and Ahelegbe added 13 points as the Panthers won in the NCAAs for the first time since upsetting third-seeded Missouri in 1990.

Farokhmanesh’s shot was from about the same spot as Maurice Newby’s 3-pointer that beat Missouri with 4 seconds left 20 years ago.

“I think that it gets talked about at our place, and in a positive way. It’s something that our program is very proud of, the win that we had 20 years ago against Missouri,” Jacobson said. “It gets talked about, it gets written about and it should. That was certainly a building block in our program. … Being able to win a game in the tournament now after 20 years, I think it’s significant. I think as you continue to build your program, it’s a big part of it.”

Jacobson took over the program four years ago when Greg McDermott moved on to Iowa State after leading UNI to three straight NCAA tournament berths.

In all, the Panthers have made the field five of the last seven years—with the first four trips ending in first-round losses by exactly five points. This time, Northern Iowa claimed its highest seed in school history behind a defense allowing only 54.3 points per game—the second-lowest total in the nation.

“That’s why we win games is because our defense is consistent,” Farokhmanesh said. “Your offense is up and down usually, but as long as your defense is there you have a chance to win basketball games.”

In the second half, the Panthers were able to turn the game into their sort of grinding style and prevented UNLV from becoming only the second team to score 70 points against them this season. The Runnin’ Rebels, who were 22-2 when scoring at least 70 points, fell to 3-7 when failing to reach that mark.

It was a rare first-round loss for the program, which fell to 13-3 in its NCAA openers. Coach Lon Kruger also had his personal streak of five straight first-round wins snapped. He had won his last three openers at Illinois and his first two at UNLV.

“Losing in the first round is a little disappointing,” Willis said. “But overall, we had a good season. We’re definitely going to have our good days ahead of us.”

Reserve forward Matt Shaw scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half to lead UNLV. Willis and Bellfield added 13 points apiece and Chace Stanback had 11 points while leading the Runnin’ Rebels out of a 58-49 hole with 7:16 remaining.

Bellfield said the Rebels had to “really dig down deep and just really compete.”

“That’s what we did and it paid off for a while,” he said. “We just broke down at the end where he just got an open shot and just knocked it down.”

rivals.yahoo.com

[mohamed12]

I talked 2 him on facebook,i asked him if he's Lebanese-American,he replied "yes i am"
I dont know if he's lying!

Dani could you ask ghayath about omar semhan issue? thx

[daniab]

Omar Samhan is Egyptian

I talked 2 him on facebook,i asked him if he's Lebanese-American,he replied "yes i am"
I dont know if he's lying!

[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...

[khalid]

many Lebanese names (a long list)

Omar Samhan with St Mary's

Omar Samhan is Egyptian

[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

[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."

[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]

@ Daniab

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

[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.