Iowa State Professional Athletes

Iowa State Alumni in the NBA | Week of Sept. 27–Oct. 3

Tyrese Haliburton has spent the better part of a year watching from the sideline. He has no intention of leaving anyone guessing about what comes next.

The Iowa State product and two-time All-Star showed up to Indiana Pacers Media Day this week with a clear message: he's healthy, he's ready, and he's the only voice that matters on the subject. Speaking to reporters ahead of the opening of training camp, Haliburton declared himself "100%" and said he's operating with "no restrictions" — emphatic language from a player who knows the whisper network around his recovery has been working overtime.

The backdrop is significant. Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon during the 2025 NBA Finals, one of the cruelest possible moments for an injury of that magnitude. He missed the entirety of last season rehabilitating, leaving Indiana without its offensive engine at the worst time. Achilles tears at the NBA level carry a long shadow — the recovery timeline is brutal, and the return to pre-injury form isn't guaranteed for anyone. Haliburton is clearly aware of that narrative and is actively working to bury it.

"He's keeping tabs on his doubters," according to Yahoo Sports — a detail that suggests the chip on his shoulder has only grown during 12 months of watching rather than playing. At Media Day, he also made a pointed declaration: he alone is the authoritative source on his injury status, cutting off speculation before it can take root in a long season of media scrutiny.

The timing couldn't be better for Indiana. The Pacers' offense was already among the NBA's most dynamic when Haliburton was running it, and the offseason addition of Ivica Zubac figures to add a new dimension to an attack that was already hard to guard. With a legit lob target and pick-and-roll finisher alongside Haliburton's elite playmaking, the Pacers' scheme could be more potent than it was before the injury derailed everything.

There's also something larger at play in Indiana this fall. Sports Illustrated noted that Haliburton, Rick Carlisle, and Reggie Miller are all serving as connective tissue between the franchise's past and present — a symbolic throughline for a city that takes its basketball seriously. Haliburton, still just 26, is at the center of it.

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Also worth watching: Georges Niang, who played at Iowa State before his NBA career, appears set to make the Golden State Warriors' final roster around Stephen Curry, per ClutchPoints NBA insider Brett Siegel. Niang, a veteran floor-spacer, signed a partially guaranteed deal and is positioned to stick as Golden State finalizes its training camp roster. It's a quieter story than Haliburton's comeback, but Cyclone fans have two former standouts worth tracking as the 2026–27 season gets underway.

The Long Road Back

Fifteen months after tearing his Achilles in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals — one of the cruelest injuries in recent postseason memory — Iowa State's Tyrese Haliburton is making all the right noise heading into the 2026-27 season. The Indiana Pacers point guard has spent the summer piling up moments that signal a man ready to reclaim his spot among the NBA's elite.

The most telling sign came from Haliburton himself. During the Pacers' players-only minicamp at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Haliburton shared a hype video of him and his teammates training — capping it with the message "Almost that time." For a player who watched the Knicks celebrate a championship on a floor he was carried off of, that phrase carries real weight.

Haliburton Is Doing Eastbay Dunks. Read That Again.

The physical milestones are stacking up. Haliburton has reportedly brought back the eastbay dunk — a move that requires serious lower-body explosiveness — as part of his on-court workouts. For a player recovering from an Achilles tear, that's not just symbolic; it's a statement. The Pacers are preaching patience with their star this season, but the evidence on the court tells a more optimistic story.

Indiana has also moved to shore up the roster around him, reportedly signing veteran enforcer James Johnson — a player who once told Haliburton, "I got your back."

The Mental Game

Haliburton hasn't shied away from the psychological toll of the past year. He admitted he had to "turn this s**t off" when the Knicks won the 2025 NBA title, and that he could barely stomach watching the celebration. It's the kind of honest vulnerability that makes him one of the more compelling figures in the league heading into a new season.

He's also spoken about an unexpected source of support during his recovery: Kevin Durant. Durant, who famously returned from his own Achilles tear to remain an All-NBA force, visited Haliburton and offered perspective that the Pacers guard said changed how he viewed respect in the league.

Haliburton and Pacers legend Reggie Miller have also connected publicly in recent weeks, with both reflecting on playoff legacies and what Indiana basketball means — a passing-of-the-torch moment that underscores just how much expectation rides on Haliburton's return.

Off the Court, the Profile Is Growing

Beyond the rehab footage, Haliburton's visibility heading into the season has been unmistakable. He landed on the cover of SLAM Magazine alongside WWE superstar Trick Williams, and Nike revealed a new Pacers-inspired colorway of his signature "Hali 1" sneaker ahead of his return. The marketing machine is clearly betting that Haliburton's comeback will be one of the defining storylines of the 2026-27 NBA season.

With a healthy Haliburton, Yahoo Sports has already tabbed the Pacers as legitimate NBA Finals contenders — a direct reversal from the one-year hiatus forced by his injury. For Iowa State alumni, the next few months will be must-watch television. Cyclone Nation has waited long enough.

Iowa State's NBA alumni are making noise before a single regular-season tip-off, and the two loudest names heading into the 2026-27 campaign are exactly who Cyclone fans would expect: Tyrese Haliburton and Georges Niang.

Haliburton's Comeback Tour Is Already Must-Watch

Fourteen months removed from tearing his Achilles in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Tyrese Haliburton is firmly back in the public eye — and the Indiana basketball ecosystem couldn't be happier about it.

Last Sunday, Haliburton showed up at the Colts' Week 1 season opener against the Baltimore Ravens to bang the iconic anvil, a pregame ritual reserved for Indiana's most beloved sports figures. The Colts lost to the Ravens, but the moment underscored just how deeply embedded Haliburton has become in the state's sports culture while navigating his rehab.

The appearances aren't purely ceremonial. One insider has already pegged the revamped Pacers — who added center Ivica Zubac this offseason — to win up to 50 games in 2026-27, citing Haliburton's expected return as the catalyst for a team that made it all the way to Game 7 of the Finals before his injury derailed everything. Indiana's front office faces longer-term decisions about who to build around beyond this coming window, but with Haliburton healthy, that conversation starts and ends with the former Iowa State star.

Off the court, Haliburton has kept his personality front and center. He made headlines trolling an accused impersonator named Daejon Love by wearing a 49ers jersey with "Love" on the back — a nod to his friendship with Brock Purdy, his Iowa State teammate — and separately went viral on X while crowd-sourcing thumbnail designers for his YouTube and Twitch channels. The post drew nearly 81,000 views. Haliburton as a brand is operating at full speed, even if his Achilles is still working its way back.

Niang Finds a New Home — and a New Fan in Steve Kerr

While Haliburton rehabilitated in Indianapolis, Georges Niang spent the entire 2025-26 season on the sideline nursing an injury of his own. Now, the forward known universally as "Minivan" is back — and he's landed in arguably the most fitting place possible.

The Golden State Warriors signed Niang to a one-year, $3.9 million deal last month, per ESPN's Shams Charania. It's a low-risk, high-character signing for Golden State: a proven three-point specialist and locker room presence who can provide veteran depth around Steph Curry as the Warriors manage their roster through another contention push.

Head coach Steve Kerr is already delighted with at least one aspect of the signing. On the "Tom Tolbert Show," Kerr called "Minivan" the "greatest nickname ever," noting that roster depth and character guys like Niang could help the Warriors weather the inevitable injury absences that come with an aging core. Before training camp even opens, Niang has reportedly made a strong public statement about playing alongside Curry — a fitting declaration from a player who thrives in exactly the kind of pace-and-space system Golden State runs.

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For Iowa State fans, the 2026-27 NBA season offers a compelling dual storyline: watching Haliburton complete one of basketball's more emotionally loaded comebacks, and rooting for Niang to prove he's still got plenty of miles left in the Minivan.