Northern Iowa basketball seniors getting and giving fond farewells in barnstorming tour

CEDAR RAPIDS - There was a time, kids, when major-college basketball teams had seniors.

They would spend four years at their school, then go on spring barnstorming tours after the season ended to make a few bucks before going off into the world.

Iowa had a group like that four years ago in Greg Brunner, Erek Hansen, Jeff Horner and Doug Thomas. Maybe again, some year.

Northern Iowa had seniors this year. Good ones. They've been playing here and there recently, like Cedar Falls High, Greene and Storm Lake. Some of them came to Kirkwood Community College Tuesday night to play an exhibition against a collection of former Kirkwood players.

Ali Farokhmanesh qualified for both teams, having spent his sophomore season of college after Kirkwood before two Missouri Valley Conference-championship years at UNI.

“I developed a lot my year at Kirkwood,” Farokhmanesh said. He's one of many players who could have said that over the years.

Farokhmanesh, Adam Rodenberg and MVC Player of the Year Adam Koch were here Tuesday. Center Jordan Eglseder, who brought his UNI buddies to his Bellevue hometown for an exhibition recently, couldn't make it. He's going to Boston this week for a workout with Celtics scouts.

Koch is hoping to negotiate some NBA workouts, but said he'd be happy to give playing overseas a shot before going off to either dental or medical school.

Farokhmanesh, the little guard who was the biggest star during the first week of this year's NCAA tourney, is on the verge of signing an agent to get him a playing job abroad.

“I want to play in some shape or form,” he said. “I'm so attached to the game. I'd miss the game way too much right now if I stopped playing.”

Koch and Farokhmanesh are still the same unassuming guys they were before UNI picked off top-seeded Kansas in the second round of the NCAAs, but something's changed. Namely, people recognize them beyond Cedar Falls.

“It used to be that when I'd be in airports (wearing UNI garb) people would give me a blank stare,” Koch said. “Now people want to talk to you.

“I went to Indianapolis for some Final Four activities, and on the street some people would notice me just from watching the Kansas and Michigan State games. It was so different to be recognized in Northern Iowa gear.”

Farokhmanesh, of course, had his life turned sideways after his famous 3-point shot late in the Kansas game. Suddenly he was doing phone interviews with everyone under the sun in the days leading up to UNI's Sweet 16 game against Michigan State. His image adorned the cover of Sports Illustrated.

“It was more weird the first three weeks or so after that,” Farokhmanesh said. “It seems to have quieted a bit now. But it was definitely weird. I never expected anything like that to happen.”

The Panthers had a team, a nice team with a lot of veterans. It was the first men's squad from Iowa to go that deep in the NCAAs in 10 years.

On a table just outside the Johnson Hall gym Tuesday, a pair of Eglseder's size 18 basketball shoes was an item in a silent auction.

It was symbolic. Eglseder, Koch and Farokhmanesh are leaving big shoes to fill.