The Field House. College Sports coverage from The Denver Post’s Kyle Fredrickson.
Niko Medved’s plan to rejuvenate the Colorado State men’s basketball program is taking shape.
Medved will add a pair of his former Drake assistants to the staff at CSU in JR Blount and Ali Farokhmanesh, , as Medved’s first hires since being introduced to as the Rams head coach. Last season at Drake, the trio helped lead the Bulldogs to their best record since 2011-12.
“We’re really excited to add both Ali and JR here to the Ram basketball family,” Medved said in a news release. “They’re both absolutely terrific coaches and recruiters, as I believe they are rising stars in the business. They are also terrific people and mentors for our student-athletes. Both are going to be people that Ram fans are going to love and excited for them to get started and hit the ground running.”
Farokhmanesh is well known among college hoops fans for his playing days at Northern Iowa and its 2010 NCAA Tournament upset of Kansas to reach the Sweet 16. He then served as a graduate assistant and director of player development at Nebraska before landing an assistant position on Medved’s staff at Drake last spring.
“I’m really excited about being here,” Farokhmanesh said.” Being with Coach (Tim) Miles at Nebraska and then with Niko at Drake, I have obviously heard a lot about Colorado State. Also, one of my best friends is Wes Eikmeier (former CSU standout) so I have heard so many great things about Colorado State, the community and the basketball program. I am excited to be a part of that, build on the hard work that previous coaches have put into it and help us excel in the Mountain West.”
Blount is a former Loyola-Chicago guard (2005-09) who played one season of professional basketball in Great Britain. Blount’s coaching path included stops at D-III Wisconsin-Stevens Point and D-II St. Leo (Fla.) before joining Drake as its director of basketball operations in 2014. He spent the last two seasons as a Bulldogs assistant coach.
“It’s a great opportunity to be here,” Blount said. “This is privilege to be involved in this program and work along side Niko. He has built programs that have had success and to be a part of the foundation of rebuilding this program is something I look forward to. I’m excited to be here and bring my family here to a great community.”
CSU has yet to announce who Blount will hire as his third assistant coach.