Drake hires NCAA Tournament hero Ali Farokhmanesh as assistant coach

We don’t normally write about assistant coach hires because, well, they’re usually boring.

Except for when an NCAA Tournament hero gets a coaching gig.

That’s what happened on Friday when Drake announced that it hired Northern Iowa legend Ali Farokhmanesh as an assistant coach.

In the school’s press release, new coach Niko Medved said:

"It's a great day to add Ali to our staff here at Drake. As a coach, Ali is the entire package. He has tremendous character, is a great communicator, he knows how to teach the game and is a tireless worker. Ali has deep roots here in Iowa and had a storied career as a player in the Missouri Valley. He has also developed many important recruiting ties during his time at Nebraska and will hit the ground running."

Need a Farokhmanesh refresher? No, of course you don’t. But you do need to watch his onionsy three against Kansas in the 2010 Round of 32 a good 20 more times, so here you go:

I remember watching that game at my dad’s house. We had some family over and he was out back firing up the grill (it was unseasonably warm for mid-March). I was watching with my uncle. That shot went up and, like everyone else, I thought it was the dumbest decision in the world. Then it went in. His chops, his clutchness, and his name instantly immortalized him in the 49 non-Kansas states.

He has spent the last three seasons on Tim Miles’ staff at Nebraska. Welcome back to the land of the mids, Mr. Farokhmanesh.