Tyrese Haliburton Making Return to Hilton Coliseum With Pacers

The 2026 NBA Draft was a special one for the Iowa State Cyclones, with Joshua Jefferson being selected in the first round, No. 28 overall, by the Minnesota Timberwolves and being part of a trade to the Brooklyn Nets.

It snapped a five-year drought of Iowa State not having a single player selected in the NBA Draft. The last Cyclones player who was selected was Tyrese Haliburton, who was picked No. 12 by the Sacramento Kings in 2020.

He spent the first 1.5 seasons of his career with the Kings before being traded to the Indiana Pacers, a franchise he has helped take to new heights as their point guard. Unfortunately, he missed the 2025-26 NBA season because of an Achilles injury, but he is expected to be free of restrictions for training camp and the upcoming season.

That is great news, because Iowa State fans are going to get to see their former star play at Hilton Coliseum one more time. It has been announced that Haliburton and the Pacers are going to play their first preseason game in Ames on Oct. 7, 2026, at 6 pm.

When are Pacers playing at Hilton Coliseum?

Former Iowa State and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton holds his parents John and Brenda Haliburton. — Former Iowa State and Indiana Packer guard Tyrese Haliburton holds his parents John and Brenda Haliburton as the unveiling his Olympic 24 gold made banner during the halftime of Cyclones and Wildcats men’s basketball showdown at Hilton Coliseum on Saturday March 1, 2025 in Ames, Iowa. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

That is going to be the first preseason game of the year for Indiana, which means Cyclones fans are going to see Haliburton’s much-anticipated return to game action since he injured his Achilles in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder on June 22.

This will be the fourth time that Hilton Coliseum is hosting an NBA exhibition during the league’s preseason schedule. The first occurrence was in 1991 when Jeff Grayer and the Milwaukee Bucks faced off against Jeff Hornacek and the Phoenix Suns.

Haliburton coming back to Ames pic.twitter.com/cT4TM8sAIW
— Nick Ziegler (@NickZiegler20) August 12, 2026

It was a fun experience for Iowa State fans to see two of their former players facing off against one another on the court.

In 1999, it was Fred Hoiberg, who was playing for the Chicago Bulls, and his head coach, Tim Floyd, who had spent the previous four seasons coaching the Cyclones, taking the court against the Atlanta Hawks.

The third, and most recent, time before Haliburton and the Pacers play against the Timberwolves in under two months was in 2018. The Bucks played against Minnesota in that contest.

Back to Tyrese Haliburton’s stomping grounds 👀

We will face the Timberwolves on October 7 in Ames, Iowa for our first preseason game. pic.twitter.com/q7rQvJ20fv
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) August 12, 2026

This is a great opportunity for the Ames community and Iowa State fan base to see one of their recent stars in action again. Haliburton played only two seasons with the Cyclones before declaring for the NBA Draft, but made quite the impact while he was there.

For his sophomore year, he earned a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team and was named a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the best point guard in college basketball. He averaged 15.6 points, 6.5 assists, 5.9 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 0.7 blocks in 36.7 minutes per game.

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