Iowa State Professional Athletes

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.

Iowa State in the NBA | Week of Sept. 6–12, 2026

Tyrese Haliburton is back, and Indiana doesn't care that nobody seems to be paying attention.

The Iowa State product and Pacers point guard headlines this week's Cyclone alumni activity in the NBA, sitting at the center of a quietly compelling preseason story: a franchise that made the Finals two seasons ago, now returning its star player from injury, and still not getting respect from the national conversation.

The Ranking That Should Sting

Despite Haliburton's return and a roster built around him, Pascal Siakam, and Ivica Zubac, the Pacers received a surprising preseason ranking that leaves them well outside the league's perceived title contenders, per Heavy Sports. For a team that reached the NBA Finals two seasons ago, the skepticism is notable — and for Indiana fans, it should read as motivation.

The question isn't whether the Pacers have talent. A Sports Illustrated breakdown of Eastern Conference starting fives puts Indiana's unit — anchored by Haliburton's elite playmaking — in serious conversation among the East's best. The argument isn't a reach. Haliburton, when healthy, is one of the most dynamic lead guards in the league, and the supporting cast around him has only grown more experienced.

The catch, of course, is that "when healthy" qualifier. Haliburton's injury-interrupted recent history is the primary reason analysts are hedging. But if he stays on the floor, Indiana's ceiling is real — and the preseason ranking may age poorly.

Striking the Anvil

Off the court, Haliburton is leaning into his Indianapolis identity in a big way. The Pacers star is set to strike the anvil before the Colts' home opener against Baltimore — a pregame tradition that, by Indianapolis lore, previously preceded a memorable upset. It's a small story, but it speaks to something larger: Haliburton isn't just a basketball player in this city. He's become a genuine civic figure, the kind of face a franchise builds its culture around.

The Rest of the Cyclone Roster

Haliburton isn't the only Iowa State alum suiting up in the league. Monte Morris, his teammate in Indiana, remains on the Pacers' roster at shooting guard — a familiar Cyclone pairing in the heart of the Midwest. Elsewhere, Talen Horton-Tucker is with the Bulls, Georges Niang and Javan Johnson are with the Warriors, Keshon Gilbert is in Atlanta, and Tristan Enaruna holds a spot with Cleveland, among others.

None are generating the same preseason buzz as Haliburton, but the depth of Iowa State's NBA footprint — over a dozen alumni currently on rosters — reflects the program's sustained ability to develop pro talent.

Bottom Line

The Pacers are being underestimated. Haliburton is healthy. And Iowa State's most prominent NBA export is once again positioned to make people look foolish for sleeping on him. The preseason rankings will update themselves in November.

Tyrese Haliburton had a busy week away from the hardwood — and made sure Milwaukee felt every second of it.

The Iowa State alumnus and Indiana Pacers point guard threw out the first pitch at Wrigley Field on Thursday ahead of a Cubs-Brewers game, a move loaded with backstory. According to multiple reports, the Milwaukee Brewers had originally invited Haliburton — a Wisconsin native and lifelong Brewers fan — to do the honors. Then the Pacers eliminated the Bucks from the 2025 NBA Playoffs. The invite disappeared. Haliburton didn't forget.

So when the Cubs came calling, he answered, billing himself as a baseball "free agent" and strolling onto the Wrigley grass in front of the exact fanbase that spurned him. The troll job landed. Brewers fans noticed. Haliburton even took time to clap back at a Bucks fan on social media who criticized him for the Cubs appearance despite his Wisconsin roots — a reminder that the Pacers star has no shortage of competitive fire even during the offseason.

The pitch itself drew some fan roasts online, but Haliburton seemed unbothered. He's played in front of hostile crowds before.

Best at His Age

The Wrigley moment would have been enough for one news cycle, but Haliburton also picked up a more formal kind of recognition this week: a ranking as the top NBA player at his age heading into the new season. The honor underscores where the former Cyclone stands in the league's pecking order — not just as a Pacers cornerstone, but as one of the premier players of his basketball generation.

Indiana is banking on that ceiling. A Pacers season preview from Sports Illustrated points to health as the central variable for the upcoming year, with Haliburton's play setting the tone for a team with Finals ambitions. Bold predictions circulating for the Pacers' season include a significant win total turnaround and a career year from their star point guard.

The Bigger Picture for Iowa State

Haliburton remains the clear headliner among Iowa State's NBA alumni, and his offseason presence — culturally visible, competitively sharp — reflects a player who understands his platform. He's also not alone in the league: Monte Morris remains a Pacer in a depth role, while Talen Horton-Tucker, Georges Niang, and Keshon Gilbert are among the other Cyclones scattered across rosters heading into the new season.

But this week belonged to Haliburton. He turned a baseball snub into a moment, added a ranking to his résumé, and reminded everyone that Iowa State's most prominent NBA export is very much operating at the top of his game — on the mound or off it.

Two Cyclones are making noise before a single preseason whistle has blown, and the storylines couldn't be more different — one is a veteran role player finding a new home, the other is a franchise cornerstone with genuine championship ceiling talk.

Georges Niang Lands in Golden State

Georges Niang is heading back to the Bay. The Iowa State forward agreed to a contract with the Golden State Warriors during NBA free agency, filling out a rotation that was still taking shape after a quiet offseason for Golden State. According to FanSided's breakdown of the Warriors' projected lineup and rotation, Niang slots in alongside Brandon Williams as part of a group tasked with providing veteran spacing and secondary scoring off the bench.

At this stage of his career, Niang is exactly what a contending team looks for in a depth piece: a reliable three-point shooter who doesn't need the ball to be effective and who understands his role. Golden State isn't expecting him to carry anything — but in a system built on ball movement and floor spacing, a shooter of Niang's caliber can be a genuine difference-maker in playoff rotations.

Haliburton's Pacers Are Turning Heads

Meanwhile, Tyrese Haliburton is fielding a much bigger conversation. Yahoo Sports projects the Indiana Pacers as the Eastern Conference's dark-horse threat for the 2026-27 season, with the Iowa State product squarely at the center of that argument. Haliburton's playmaking and leadership have made Indiana a legitimate sleeper in a conference that, for all its depth, lacks a dominant favorite.

The Pacers' case doesn't rest on Haliburton alone. The Sporting News points to head coach Rick Carlisle as a significant X-factor — a daunting variable for opponents given his track record of squeezing max value out of roster construction. With Haliburton running the show and Carlisle shaping the system around him, Indiana's ceiling is legitimately hard to cap.

Haliburton is also staying sharp off the court, as The Sporting News reported he was recently spotted in the gym working out alongside Philadelphia's Tyrese Maxey — a detail that speaks to his preparation mentality heading into what could be his highest-stakes season yet.

Also worth noting for Cyclone completists: Monte Morris remains on Indiana's roster as a backup guard, meaning two Iowa State alums could be suiting up together for a Pacers team with Eastern Conference ambitions.

The Cyclone Connection

Iowa State doesn't produce NBA talent in volume the way Kansas or Kentucky does, but the Niang-Haliburton pairing represents something rare: two alumni, at the same time, threading into genuinely compelling NBA narratives. One is proving veterans still have markets; the other is being asked to carry a franchise deep into May. Both stories are worth watching when the 2026-27 season tips off.