NCAA - UNI Basketball Team Beat No.1 Kansas

The NCAA Basketball Tournament turns many people into basketball fans during the month of March.

Just ask most any Iowan about UNI right now! Basketball fanatics who know all the teams' facts and figures - to someone who makes their bracket choices because of a favorite team color, player, college or location join the hoopla. Do you go with the favored teams - or write down a dark horse? Everyone hopes their team is the winner.

Who exactly are these UNI guys with varied talents that make up this Missouri Valley Conference team? UNI is the first Missouri Valley Conference member to defeat a No.1 team since 1962. [Cincinnati over Ohio State] Suddenly everyone wants to know more about these talented fellows.

The following gives you a peek at some of the UNI players.

ADAM KOCH - A 6 foot - 8 pre-dentistry student who was named the Missouri Valley Conference player of the year.

KWADZO AHELEGBE - [PRONOUNCED ka-JOE Uh-HEL-IG-buh] - Both of his parents are from Ghana and his first name means, "born on Monday."

ALI FAROKHMANESH - [pronounced Fuh-ROAK-muh-nesh] - His father played for the Iranian national volleyball team and coaches volleyball at the University of Iowa. Ali hit the winning 3-pointer in Thursday's win over UNLV.

JOHNNY MORAN - Defensive specialist who lists his favorite movie as "old School," - starring Will Ferrell.

LUCAS O'REAR - Two-time winner of the Valley's sixth man award. Lucas also plays baseball and throws a 90 mph fastball. He is a pro-baseball prospect.

JORDAN EGLSEDER - He told Sports Illustrated of his reaction to receiving a scholarship offer from Northern Iowa University. "Let me think about this. No other schools have shown any interest in me. I'm fat. I'm slow. And, let's, be honest, I'm not very good. OK. Sign me up." Jordan is 7 feet tall and weighs 280 pounds. He's built like an aircraft carrier. And, he does play ball at UNI!

JAKE KOCH - Brother of Adam - the two are brought into games when quickness and speed are needed against their opponents.

This is just a sampling of the University of Northern Iowa players. No doubt you will be hearing more about them. Did you pick this dark horse to play down to the wire and did you watch the historical upset?

UNI [University of Northern Iowa] is located in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Cedar Falls connects with Waterloo and they are in Northeastern Iowa. It is a small, state supported school, well- known for its academics. UNI has a great program for students who wish to study abroad.

Iowa is directly in the middle of the US. Interstates 35 [connects the US from north to south] and 80 [connects US from east to west] come together at Des Moines, Iowa. Des Moines is about 3 hours southwest of UNI and is the capitol city of Iowa.

Credit:
The Des Moines Register
June Reed