Call it unfinished business. Call it a homecoming. Or call it Tyrese Haliburton taking care of his own.
Regardless, the Pacers hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves at Iowa State University for an exhibition game will be special and memorable for Indiana’s All-Star point guard, who will be playing in his first NBA game since June 22, 2025.
Now 472 days after suffering a torn Achilles in the biggest game of his life, Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals, Haliburton is eager to be himself again on the court. And he’ll do it back inside Hilton Coliseum, home of what they call Hilton Magic.
It’s the home of the Cyclones, who Haliburton suited up in 57 games from 2018-20 before entering the NBA draft.
“If I could’ve stayed in college for four years and then still had the same draft stock, I would’ve done it,” he said on Tuesday after practice. “I love Iowa State. I’m excited to go back. It obviously has a lot of special memories for me.”
His final college game was on Feb. 8, 2020. He was playing almost every minute of every game, but he logged only 25 minutes against Kansas State after a recent wrist injury got worse when he fell on it in the first half.
Micah Byars is the director of basketball operations for the ISU men’s program. There have been several changes to the coaching staff since Haliburton, who played for Steve Prohm, was there. But Byars is entering his 16th season with the program, and he remains close to Tyrese.
“This is not lore, it’s true,” Byars began. “It’s an amazing story. And he hurt himself in the first half — hurt that right wrist — and he played with one hand for the duration of the second half against Kansas State, which would turn out to be his last game playing with us because he sat out.”
So now, more than six years later, Haliburton will both make his return to game action and get to play at Hilton Coliseum one more time.
“It’s a special situation,” said Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle. “I’ve been to a few games there over the years. It’s an amazing atmosphere for a college environment, really one of the best I’ve been in. I’m sure the reception will be very warm, and it will be a really nice moment.”
It’s a full-circle moment for the face of the Pacers.
“Very thankful for both, obviously, the Pacers organization, but the Timberwolves organization (also) for allowing this to be a thing,” Haliburton said. “I know Iowa’s kinda out of the way, not easy to get to, but really exciting for me and I think a lot of Iowa State fans as well, so it’s gonna be fun.”
In May 2025, before Caitlin Clark’s second season with the Fever, the franchise scheduled a preseason game at the University of Iowa. It was wildly successful, appreciated by Clark and embraced by Hawkeye fans — who also poured their support into the rest of the Fever because they were Clark’s teammates.
Haliburton pitched the idea of doing the same with a game Iowa State.
