CEDAR FALLS - More than a few elementary students in Northeast Iowa idolize athletes at the University of Northern Iowa.

So when senior men's basketball players Ali Farokhmanesh and Adam Koch stopped by Kelly Bachman's fourth-grade class at Malcolm Price Laboratory School last week, the kids got a bit giddy.

"We wanted to read a book to you guys," Farokhmanesh told them.

Nine student-athletes from UNI visited the school Wednesday to read to children in first through fourth grades as part of Just Read!, a program initiated by the Missouri Valley Conference in 1998.

The fourth-graders found a spot in front of Farokhmanesh and Koch as they read "Anansi and the Talking Melon" and "Anansi Goes Fishing." Afterward, the students could ask the players a few questions.

"Have you ever did a slam dunk before?" Michael Lowrie asked Koch, who is 6 foot 8.

"Sometimes," said Koch, a forward for the Panthers. "I've done a couple of them."

Rhianna Conry wanted to know their favorite exotic animal.

"Besides a panther," she said, eliminating UNI's mascot.

Bachman reminded her class that Farokhmanesh and Koch also are students and asked for tips on balancing studies and sports. Several of her fourth-graders play soccer and football.

"It can be a little harder sometimes, but you just have to make sure you do your schoolwork and work hard when you can because that's what's important," Koch said.

"We always had to do our homework first in my house, and then I'd get to go play," added Farokhmanesh, a guard for UNI.

The students received autographed bookmarks and coloring sheets with TC Panther.

"Maybe we'll see you at some games or something," Farokhmanesh said. "Come say hi to us."

The Just Read! program, co-sponsored by State Farm Insurance, is designed to promote reading at an early age.

J.D. Cryer, principal at Price Lab, praised the potential impact of such high-profile role models on the younger students.

"They heard good things about commitment and following the rules," he said. "When bad things happen or somebody makes a bad call, you're still a good sport - things that are applicable to our kids."