Parsa Fallah limped to the center of Eddie Sutton Court in Gallagher-Iba Arena on Senior Day, knelt down, took off his cowboy hat and kissed the Oklahoma State logo.
The reason was simple for Fallah, the Cowboys' senior forward.
"It just gave me the best year of my college career," Fallah said. "I think I was just trying to say that it's more than basketball to me. Oklahoma State isn't just a college or a basketball team to me. It's way more my family."
Fallah's career as a Cowboy basketball player ended 11 days before that Senior Day game against Houston, when he tore the ACL in his left knee in the final seconds against West Virginia. But after moving from Iran, being stranded in Africa for months and adjusting to a new life, adversity is nothing new for Fallah.
At the end of that five-year journey, Fallah is content, even if this season didn't end how he wanted. In one season at OSU, Fallah became a program favorite, and he and his wife, Ellie, fell in love with Stillwater. It was a long road to OSU, but it's become more than a quick stop for Fallah after years of chasing basketball.
"Stillwater became my home, and I'm planning on raising my kids here, because I think it's an amazing place, amazing people here," Fallah said. "That's my plan, longterm, but since I'm just 23 years old and my knee just happened, I'm not sure how my future is going to look. If nothing crazy happens, I'm planning on staying here.
"Oklahoma State is a home for me now, and it will be for the rest of my life."
Dream chasing
Fallah grew up in Amol, Iran, and like many kids in the region, his athletics career began with soccer, the country's most popular sport. His father, Ezzat, is a youth soccer coach, so it was a natural fit.
But one day, Fallah tried basketball. His passion switched, and it took him to new heights.
Fallah made the Iranian National Team and represented Iran at the 2021 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup. It was quite the experience. San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama was on the French National Team, and the Oklahoma City Thunder's Chet Holmgren represented Team USA.
Fallah held his own, averaging 14.9 points and 8.3 rebounds a game. That earned the attention of coaches across the world, including the U.S. Before long, an offer rolled in from Southern Utah University, and Fallah took it.
"I think coming here and playing college basketball is every kid's dream," Fallah said. "As soon as I had the opportunity, it was hard for me to leave my family, but basketball-wise it was the best decision I could make."
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Oklahoma State senior forward Parsa Fallah celebrates with students during a court storming after the Cowboys upset BYU on Feb. 4.
His parents were sad to think of their 17-year-old son moving across the globe, but they were supportive of his dream. So, Fallah packed two suitcases to head to a country where he knew no one and didn't speak its language. He knew it would mean goodbye for a while.
"It was scary for them and for me," Fallah said.
But Fallah first needed a visa, and Iran had no U.S. Embassy. The nearest country with a U.S. Embassy that could get him an appointment quickly was Senegal. So, he set off for Daka, Senegal, with about $400 and a visa appointment.
Pushing forward
The visa approval process was supposed to take two days.
But the days began to turn into weeks. Then months. Fallah was stuck far from home, alone, not knowing when the waiting would end. For six months, Fallah said, he went to bed every night telling himself that tomorrow was going to be the day.
"God is always stressed in my life, and I always keep him first, and he had my back in everything I went through. I could feel him in those days that no one was there. I could feel that he's pushing me to go forward," Fallah said.
As the days dragged on, money dwindled. Fallah had nowhere to go, and he rarely left his makeshift bedroom.
"There were some days I wouldn't eat," Fallah said. "I didn't have food. I had a room, but I didn't have a bed. I had to sleep on the ground some days. It was very tough."
Fallah's sleep schedule was messed up. Some days he woke up at 3 a.m., and some days 10 a.m. But on multiple occasions, he woke up and checked the clock and saw the same time: 11:11.
Then, on Nov. 11, 2021 – 11/11 – Fallah woke up and checked his email like he did every day. This time was different. His visa had finally been approved.
The timing wasn't lost on Fallah. It felt intentional. It impacted him so much that he now has "11:11" tattooed on his left forearm as a reminder.
"It just taught me that there is a destiny and that God is always watching you," Fallah said. "At the end of the day, I looked at it in a different way that I was supposed to be there for six months. I was rushing it. I was stressed out. But there's a lot of times in life you're just stressing over stuff, you think about it, overthink it. At the end of the day, God's got our back. You just need to relax and wait."
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Parsa Fallah, with his "11:11" tattoo on his left forearm, stands on the free-throw line against Prairie View A&M on Nov. 12.
Fallah then continued his journey to Cedar City, Utah, the campus of Southern Utah University.
He doesn't remember what airport he arrived at first, but he knows he eventually landed in Las Vegas and was picked up by one of his coaches. On the 2 1/2 -hour drive to Cedar City, the coach ordered Fallah Chick-fil-A for his first American meal, and he remembers thinking the chicken sandwich was good but not loving the fries.
"But I couldn't really eat food for a few days because of every stress I was going through because mentally it was very tough for me," Fallah said. "I got sick for a few months."
Fallah finally walked into his dorm at 2 a.m., exhausted and stressed, but relieved. His new life had officially begun.
"I was so happy to finally have a place," he said.
Finding his footing
Ellie spotted Fallah instantly. As a 6-foot-9 athlete, he was hard to miss.
"The second I saw his head over the crowd, I knew he was the one," Ellie said.
The two met at Southern Utah four months after Fallah arrived on campus. He didn't know much English at first and had taught himself some through movies and daily interactions.
But Fallah knew just enough to get Ellie's phone number, he said. They started dating right after.
At that time, Ellie didn't know anything about him other than he was a 6-9 basketball player from Iran. Fallah didn't tell her the full story about how he ended up in Utah until a week into dating.
"And he didn't really tell me all the details of it," Ellie said. "But later on, he just kept adding more and more to the story as he was telling people, and I was like, 'Wow.'"
The connection was instant. Even when Fallah was still getting the hang of English and had a strong accent, Ellie said she was the only one who could understand him, and everyone would ask her to translate for him.
The connection was instant with her family, too.
"I think my family likes him more than me. Everyone loves him," Ellie said. "He's just got that personality that people are just drawn toward him, and he's just such a good person."
Fallah said Ellie was a huge part of helping him transition to his new chapter in life, and they married in May 2024.
"I didn't have a family here, and she became my family," Fallah said.
Fallah played two seasons at SUU and had a breakout season as a redshirt sophomore, when he averaged 13.2 points and 6.0 rebounds a game. SUU was a big stepping stone. He found Ellie and his footing in college basketball.
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Oklahoma State senior Parsa Fallah drives to the basket against Prairie View A&M on Nov. 12, 2025.
He transferred to Oregon State as a junior and was a second-team All-West Coast Conference selection. It was a good year, but Fallah said he had always eyed the Big 12 and wanted to play in a top conference.
When the Cowboys and coach Steve Lutz reached out, Fallah liked what he heard and saw a new chance. Fallah said it felt like a fit, and he decided OSU was his next stop.
"I was talking to my wife the other day, and we were saying, 'We've been in the most random places in America.' Cedar City, Utah; Corvallis, Oregon; Stillwater, Oklahoma," Fallah said with a laugh. "But my experience has been amazing, and I'm really glad I ended up here."
'I'm proud of myself'
Two hours after Fallah kneeled down and kissed the court on Senior Day, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson paused the postgame press conference.
Sampson wanted to recognize Fallah, who 11 days earlier sat where Sampson sat and delivered a heartfelt message to fans, thanking them and the staff for the best year of his career and to vouch for Lutz as the program's leader.
"These were the two things I wanted to come here and talk about, because I really, really, really love this team, man," Fallah said Feb. 24 after the WVU game. "I love the fans, I love Oklahoma State and I love Stillwater."
Sampson stopped Fallah after Senior Day, patted him on the chest and said he was proud of him. He had watched Fallah's postgame video, and it stuck with him.
"That touched me," Sampson said. "I don't know him, but you can tell he is a high-character, high-integrity young man. Everything he talked about. I loved what he said about Steve, I loved what he said about his team and I loved what he said about Oklahoma State fans. In the old days, had he stayed four years, he would be a star around here."
Frankly, Fallah already has become one. From Parsa Fallah fan accounts online to fans at games with Fallah's No. 22 jersey and mustache painted onto them, his impact is clear. He did in less than one year what some don't do in four, and he did it on the court with his effort and off the court with his character, like that postgame speech.
On the court, Fallah was a dominant force down low, scoring a career-high 14.7 points and 6.0 rebounds a game. He also earned admiration for his willingness to dive for loose balls and sacrifice his body.
"He's like our engine," junior guard Kanye Clary said. "With him, he kinda makes everybody go."
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Parsah Fallah takes pictures with fans March 7 after Oklahoma State's Senior Day game against Houston.
But his impact outside of basketball was even bigger. Assistant coach Robert Guster noticed even before the season the effect Fallah had on his teammates.
"Parsa is a unique dude. He does not have bad days," Guster said. "He approaches every day with a smile, and I'll be honest, there's a lot of times I don't. So, he teaches me to keep moving forward and don't be emotional, don't take losses so bad, don't take wins so good. He's a guy that it doesn't matter what's going on, he's gonna clap his hands.
"He says that all the time, 'Somebody needs to clap their hands,' if it starts getting bad. It's a simple task, but it's amazing how it's contagious."
One day at practice, Lutz heard Fallah in a team huddle install a rule he called the two-hour rule: no matter what happens after the game, for two hours, you can think about it.
"So, if I play great, I can celebrate for two hours. But if I play crappy, in two hours it's all over and we start new, which I think is very big of him and very mature of him to do that," Lutz said.
Fallah is mature beyond his years. That comes from perspective from what he's been through. Not only has he not seen his family in 4 ½ years, but he's had to try to focus on life in the U.S. while watching conflict and war back home.
The internet in Iran was shut off for days recently because of anti-regime protests and later U.S. attacks, and he couldn't talk to family. He's since reached them and made sure they're safe. Fallah hopes to meet them in another country soon and introduce them to Ellie for the first time.
"It's been tough. Obviously, seeing your people who you love going through stuff like that, it breaks my heart," Fallah said. "But at the end of the day, I try to make sure they're fine, they have their basic needs and just meet them as soon as possible. I just try to talk to them every day and make sure that they're fine."
Senior Day was special for Fallah. It was the culmination of a wild journey that took him places he never could have predicted. When he and Ellie arrived in Stillwater, they rented and never thought it could be a permanent home. Now, they own a house in Stillwater, and even Lutz has pushed for OSU alumni to reach out about hiring Fallah.
Looking back five years, Fallah said he didn't know how things would play out. But that journey molded him into who he is and led him to where he is, in a new chapter in Stillwater.
"I'm proud of myself, of the person I became and of the player I became. Most importantly, the person I became. I could never imagine I would be a person like that," Fallah said. "I don't like to talk about myself a lot, but my morals and what I stand for, I always keep God first, keep my family first and I try to always sacrifice for my team and my family.
"It's just the person I always wanted to be, and I think finally in my last year of college I became that. Every single place has helped me get to that point, so I'm really thankful, first of all, and pleased with what I've became as a person."
