Exclusive: Parsa Fallah Blessed to Return to Oklahoma State for Final Season

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KANSAS CITY, MO – We’re nearly a week away from the start of the 2026-27 season for Oklahoma State, with the Pokes’ final preseason non-conference game against Wisconsin on Tuesday night. One of the guys who won’t be available for most of the non-conference, but one who makes some of the biggest impact on and off the court is Parsa Fallah. 

Fallah returns this year for a final season after getting an extra year of eligibility granted through the court system. 

I had the chance to speak to Parsa in Kansas City at Big 12 Media Day last week While he won’t be on the court for a bit, it made all the sense for him to be one of the three representatives, along with Kanye Clary and Jordan Burks, in Kansas City as he’s the face of the program. 

The first thing I asked him about was his eligibility and his health.

“It’s been pretty tough; I’ve been through a lot of days where I doubted whether I’d get a year back or not,” Parsa Fallah said. “So, probably until the last second I had no idea, so I just had to take it one day at a time. I’m grateful and happy to be here now. It means a lot to be here. I said it before, I’m not from Stillwater, but I’m from Stillwater. It feels like home for me and basketball is a sport that I love. So, just to be able to get back and play for this team and the fans, it’s a blessing.” 

Steve Lutz mentioned this fall they expected Parsa back some time in December, which Parsa confirmed in KC.

“I’m making really good progress, just taking it one day at a time,” Fallah said of his knee rehab. “There’s really no timeline, but I should be back by December.”

I asked him if he thought December was a possibility when he first went down with his injury and he gave just about as good of an answer as you could’ve asked for. 

“I think that just having the mentality of taking one day at a time, it really helped me a lot and it made my progress way faster because I haven’t really thought about when I’m coming back. So, I think I’m getting back way faster than anyone else thought of. Also, at the same time, all of my work and God being there for me and blessing me is the most important reason that my progress has been pretty good.”

I’ve got plenty of content to share with everyone over the next week leading into the start of the season, but in today’s transfer portal era of basketball, it’s a little rare a coach gets back a good chunk of players from the previous season. Including Parsa, Lutz returned Kanye Clary, Ryan Crotty, Ben Ahmed and Mekhi Ragland. Five players returning.

“I think it’s really important to have at least your few main players come back from last year as a coach and as a program,” Fallah said. “As a coach, you have a culture you’re trying to teach your players. So, I think having players who already went through that could help a lot the new players learn how to respond at certain times or be able to react to certain things. [The returners] have been doing a really good job too, like [Ryan] Crotty and Mekhi [Ragland], they’re all young but I think they had a great approach at trying to pick the team up when players need them to. I think just having [returners] back is a blessing.”