First-year Colorado State men’s basketball Ali Farokmanesh has set his inaugural staff, with the group featuring both familiar and new faces across the bench.
“Setting out in hiring my first staff as the head coach, I wanted to make sure I had energetic and knowledgeable people, but most of all, I wanted great humans,” Farokhmanesh said. “We have had success building the program with great people, both on the court and the bench and I didn’t want to lose sight of that. This is a group of people which brings a ton of experience and different perspectives to help our program continue to elevate to new heights.”
Ken DeWeese and Tim Shelton continue in Fort Collins, while Cole Gentry returns to the Rams. Jimmie Foster, Chris Howell, Landry Moffett and Dave Pilipovich all make their debuts with the Green & Gold.
Ken DeWeese | Assistant Coach | Second Year
DeWeese enters his second year with the Rams after helping the team to a Mountain West Tournament title and NCAA Tournament win in 2024-25.
He traded in Wyoming’s brown and gold for CSU’s preferred green and gold.
DeWeese spent four years at Wyoming, his last role as the associate head coach. At Wyoming, he helped the Cowboys earn their first at-large NCAA Tournament bid in 20 years when the Cowboys reached the 2022 tournament with a 25-9 record. It was the program’s most wins since 1951-52.
While in Laramie, he coached six All-Mountain West honorees and the 2021 Freshman of the Year Marcus Williams. He also made coaching stops at Northern Colorado and UTEP.
Jimmie Foster | Assistant Coach | First Year
It is a full-circle moment for Foster and Farokhmanesh. Foster coached Farokhmanesh at Kirkwood Community College in the late 2000s. He now joins the staff after spending the past 10 years at Bradley where he helped transform the program from winning just five games in 2016 to back-to-back Missouri Valley Championships in 2019 and 2020 and another regular-season title in 2023.
Foster worked with the Braves frontcourt helping mentor four forwards to MVC Most Improved team honors.
Foster honed his college coaching acumen with roles at Green Bay (five seasons), North Dakota (one season) after constructing a successful playing career at Kirkwood and South Dakota, earning all-conference honors for both teams.
Cole Gentry | Assistant Coach | Third Year, First as Assistant
Former graduate assistant Cole Gentry returns to CSU after spending the 2024-25 season at his alma mater, Wright State, as an assistant coach. He helped mentor a pair of all-conference honorees in his lone season at Wright State in Brandon Noel (second team) and Solomon Callaghan (all-freshman team).
During his time with CSU, Gentry took over the team’s baseline out of bounds scouting in the 2023-24 season in which the Rams earned their highest ranking in program history and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, beating Virginia in the First Four.
The St. Charles, Illinois, native played for three seasons at Wright State after transferring there from South Dakota State. Gentry finished his career surpassing the 1,000-point scoring plateau. He went on to play professionally in the British basketball system.
Chris Howell | Director of Player Personnel | First Year
Chris Howel comes to CSU after spending the past two seasons at Marquette working alongside former CSU assistant C.J. Rivers.
Howell helped the Golden Eagles to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2023-24. In both seasons at Marquette, he was a part of developing All-American guards in Tyler Kolek and Cam Jones.
Prior to arriving at Marquette, Howell served as an assistant coach at Hill Community College in Hillsboro, Texas (2022-23) and the University of Mary (2021-2022).
Howell spent one season at Jackson State as a graduate transfer during 2018-2019, where he averaged 12.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game and helped the program finish third in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
A two-year letterwinner with the South Dakota State men’s basketball team from 2016-2018, Howell helped the Jackrabbits win 46 games in two years. He led the program to two Summit League Conference Tournament championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances.
Playing one season at Butler Community College during 2014-2015, Howell helped the Grizzlies to a 29-4 record and guided the program to a Jayhawk West Conference championship. He earned All-Jayhawk West Conference honorable mention and All-Region VI honors.
A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Howell earned a bachelor’s in human development from South Dakota State in 2018.
Landry Moffett | Director of Men’s Basketball Operations | First Year
Landry Moffett spent the past six seasons with the Texas A&M men’s basketball program, serving as the team’s administrative coordinator the final three campaigns under Buzz Williams, a former assistant at Colorado State.
In her role, Moffett helped organize travel for road games, coordinate recruiting visits and assisted with the team’s budget. Moffett played a significant role in coordinating the head coach’s calendar and daily schedule, and she served as the administrator of Buzz’s Bunch and basketball camps. She supervised the team’s meals and served as the liaison to the staff families.
Prior to her promotion, she was an office administrative assistant for three seasons where she assisted with day-of-event logistics, including catering, registration and hospitality.
From Fredericksburg, Texas, Moffett graduated from Texas A&M in May 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in sport management.
Dave Pilipovich | Director of Player Development | First Year
While Dave Pilipovich is making his debut with the Rams this season, he is not a stranger to CSU or the Mountain West. He brings more than 35 years of coaching experience, including a decade-plus in the Mountain West. He was the head coach at Air Force for eight seasons (2012-20), and served as an assistant coach at Air Force, Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Robert Morris, Georgia State and Florida Atlantic during his career.
He comes to Fort Collins after spending four of the past five seasons on staff at New Mexico with a year break as an assistant coach of the Austin Spurs in 2021-22.
Pilipovich was a part of a Mountain West Tournament title team (2024) and regular season championship team (2025) in his final two seasons at New Mexico. The Lobos trip to the 2024 NCAA Tournament was the program’s first in 10 years.
Prior to his first season with the Lobos in 2020-21, Pilipovich coached at Air Force for 13 seasons, the last eight as head coach. From 2012-20, he amassed a 110-151 record at the academy and led the program to more six-win conference seasons (five) than any other coach in Falcon history. During his time as Air Force head coach, the Falcons recorded three of the four ranked victories in program history, including a win over No. 12 New Mexico in the 2012-13 regular season finale at Clune Arena, the program’s only win over a top-12 opponent.
A 1986 graduate of Thiel College in Greenville, Pa., with a degree in business administration, Pilipovich earned four varsity basketball letters and served as team captain during his senior season. He earned his master’s degree from California (Pa.) in 1988 in geography and regional planning.
Tim Shelton | Assistant Coach | Third Year
Shelton returns for his third season at CSU. In his first two years he has been a part of a staff that saw the program reach its highest ranking ever in 2023-24, and for the first time in program history win an NCAA Tournament game in back-to-back years.
The former San Diego State Aztec player and coach came to Fort Collins after spending a year at Oregon State.
In his lone season at Oregon State, he coached one of the youngest teams in the nation. In doing so Jordan Pope earned Pac 12 All-Freshman team honors.
Shelton has plenty of knowledge about the Mountain West, spending four years on staff at Fresno State plus six on staff at San Diego State on top of his four years as a player at SDSU.
Colorado State is coming off its third NCAA Tournament appearance in four years and Mountain West Tournament title in 2025.
https://csurams.com/news/2025/5/22/mens-basketball-farokhmanesh-finalizes-inaugural-staff
