:35 The shot heard around the nation

It couldn’t have been scripted any better when the University of Northern Iowa faced Kansas in the second round of March’s NCAA Tournament.

In a game that wasn’t supposed to be close, UNI enjoyed a large lead for most of the game before Kansas, the number one team in the Nation and trendy pick to win the championship, staged a late comeback, closing the lead to one with just over 40 seconds to play.

As Luther’s head volleyball coach Cindy Fredrick watched from the stands, she witnessed Ali Farokmanesh, her son take a shot nobody else would dream of taking: a three-pointer with 30 seconds left on the shot clock.

As the ball droppped through the net, the UNI bench and fans erupted, sparking an immediate Kansas tornover and a place in NCAA tournament history.

That famous shot against the tournament’s Goliath wasn’t the only game-clincher he hit in the tournament. His three-pointer with 4.9 seconds left in the previous game against UNLV is what first got him national attention.

In the game against UNLV it was more instinctual, the clock was running out and I had to take the shot,” Farokhmanesh said.

Although others may have been nervous about the shot against Kansas, his mom wasn’t surprised at all.

“He has done this several times, but he seemed to be able to pull through in the clutch,” Fredrick said. “I think everybody on the team plays a role and his was the one that the team counted on to get through in those situations and he very often did.”

Returning to the NCAA tournament after last year’s appearance, UNI had larger aspirations.

“This year we wanted to make some noise,” Farokhmanesh said. And the noise reverberated all the way to Sports Illustrated. Although featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, his mom points out the error in the caption. Farokhmanesh was celebrating his teammate Adam Cook’s charge at the end of the game instead of the stated reaction after his three-point shot.

“Ali is just not that type of person to overly celebrate his own plays,” Fredrick said. “After the UNLV shot, he didn’t even celebrate his three-pointer he said he had to get down to the other end for defense.”

Farokhmanesh grew up playing basketball and his parents spent much of their time practicing with him. Fredrick said they would set up garbage cans and yardsticks in the driveway as obstacles for him to practice shooting around.

Every athlete wants to succeed, but Fredrick feels the key is how much time you are willing to devote.

“Everyone does it in practice but it is the ones who do it outside of practice, at home and on vacations that are successful; Ali always did,” she said.

Farokhmanesh attributes his strong work ethic to his parents. He said they taught him the meaning of hard work and that you need to work to earn your rights.

“All of us on the team worked so hard which is what made it that much more special,” he said.

Fredrick hopes that her son can take away the importance of hard work and following his dreams that led to his success.

“I look at that picture on Sports Illustrated and I think he did take away from it, just the absolute pure joy of competition and teamwork,” she said.

Farokhmanesh will carry the memories of the NCAA tournament this year with him forever and the relationships he built with teammates.

“I will never forget the fact that we beat the number one team in the country,” he said.