Pacers Superstar Tyrese Haliburton Gives Major Shoutout to Purdue Basketball
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Even one of the NBA's brightest stars knows something special is brewing in West Lafayette this year. During his media day availability this week, Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton gave a major shoutout to the Purdue basketball team.
Haliburton, who led the Pacers through a memorable playoff run that resulted in the franchise's first trip to the NBA Finals since 2000, was asked about last year's unbelievable season. He then talked about the excitement surrounding all of Indiana's sports, which included a mention of Purdue.
"It's been really cool to see what's happening in Indiana right now, just in sports in general," Haliburton said. "Indiana football is ballin', Purdue basketball is looking to be good this year. I think it's just a special time for Indiana sports.
"I would like to think we were kind of the catalyst to that, but Purdue basketball was pretty good last year. The Fever were exciting last year. We were an exciting team the year before. I think it's just an exciting time to be an Indiana sports fan."
Haliburton also mentioned the 3-1 start for the Indianapolis Colts and the Indiana Fever's run to the semifinal round of the WNBA playoffs, which ended with a 3-2 series loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday.
To Haliburton's point, Purdue was in the National Championship Game in 2024 and reached the Sweet 16 last season. The Boilermakers have been rolling recently, but there's even more hype surrounding the program entering the 2025-26 campaign.
Painter enjoyed Pacers playoff run
During his time in Indiana, Haliburton has shown support for several teams in the state. That support was reciprocated during the Pacers' playoff run by Purdue head coach Matt Painter during the 2025 NBA Finals.
Just a year after leading the Boilermakers to the Final Four, Painter made his way to Gainbridge Fieldhouse, put on a gold T-shirt and showed support for the hometown team against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The folks at Boiled Sports shared an image of Painter attending Game 4 of the NBA Finals in Indianapolis in June. He had a front-row seat to the game.
Coach Paint sighting in Indy! #Pacers #Boilermaker pic.twitter.com/NZyJZM9ofc
— Boiled Sports (@BoiledSports) June 14, 2025
Haliburton has been a regular attendee at Fever and Colts games over the past two years. Will he make a trip to West Lafayette this season to see the Boilermakers in action?
We'll see if the Pacers star shows up at Mackey Arena at some point this year and takes in one of the best environments in college basketball.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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