Tyrese Haliburton Funds Student Tickets for Pacers Preseason Opener at Iowa State

Tyrese Haliburton purchased tickets for the Iowa State student section ahead of the Indiana Pacers' preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Ames.

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton purchased tickets for the student section at Iowa State for Wednesday's preseason opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The university utilized a lottery system to distribute the seats for the game in Ames, which features a "gold out" theme for the returning alumnus. This matchup marks Haliburton's first game action in over 16 months following a torn Achilles suffered during Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals.

Haliburton, who played for the Cyclones from 2018 to 2020, told reporters in Indianapolis on Tuesday that he hopes to play at least the first half of the contest. The event was originally scheduled for 2025 but was delayed by a year to accommodate Haliburton's injury recovery. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle confirmed the rescheduling, while Haliburton noted that Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan’s roots in Des Moines helped facilitate the game at Hilton Coliseum.

The 2020 first-round draft pick maintains strong ties to the university, having proposed to his wife, Jade, on the Iowa State court. Although Haliburton expressed uncertainty regarding the ratio of Pacers fans in the arena, he organized the ticket purchase to ensure current students could attend the exhibition.