Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton encouraged college basketball fans to fill out just one bracket for the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Haliburton, a former Iowa State Cyclones player and member of the United States team that won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics, posted on X on March 17, 2024: "Make one bracket and stand on it."[1][2]
Speaking to Fox News Digital, Haliburton criticized multiple brackets as indecisive. "I think it’s just so lame that people are like, ‘Oh, I made this many brackets.’ Like, dang, how many brackets do you get? ... You have to make one choice and stand on it," he said.[1]
Haliburton endorsed one exception: a bracket picking an alma mater unrealistically alongside a logical one. He chose Iowa State to win the championship on his bracket. The Cyclones earned a No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region with a 27-7 record entering the tournament after winning the Big 12 Conference championship.[1][3][4]
Iowa State faced No. 15 seed South Dakota State in the first round on March 21, 2024, at CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska.[3]
"We’re a [No.] 2 seed — it can happen," Haliburton said. He cited Iowa State's performance in the Big 12 Conference, which he called the best in college basketball, and their success on neutral courts. Arizona defeated Iowa State 93-83 on January 21, 2024, in a game featuring a key late fadeaway shot by Arizona's Caleb Love.[1][5]
Haliburton, who averaged 15.2 points and 5.9 assists in 31 games during his lone season at Iowa State in 2019-20, partnered with Reese's on its Bracket Busting Campaign. The promotion invites fans to share busted brackets on social media with #ForAReesesSweeps for chances to win Reese's products and trips to the Final Four.[1][6]
He participated in a Bracket Summit with New York Liberty's Breanna Stewart and analysts Richard Jefferson and Andraya Carter.[1]
Haliburton is the first Iowa State men's basketball player to win an Olympic gold medal and the eighth Cyclone overall.[7][8]
Sources
- Fox News, "Tyrese Haliburton blasts multiple NCAA brackets: 'Make one bracket and stand on it'", March 19, 2024, https://www.foxnews.com/sports/tyrese-haliburton-blasts-multiple-ncaa-brackets-make-one-bracket-stand-it
- X (formerly Twitter), Tyrese Haliburton post, March 17, 2024, https://x.com/TyreseHaliburton/status/1769410325703433660
- NCAA.com, "2024 NCAA printable bracket, courtesy of the OFFICIAL NCAA March Madness app", March 17, 2024, https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2024-03-17/2024-ncaa-march-madness-mens-bracket-ncaa-tournament
- Iowa State University Athletics, "2023-24 Men's Basketball Schedule", accessed March 2024, https://cyclones.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule/2023-24
- ESPN, "Arizona 93-83 Iowa State (Jan 21, 2024) Final Score", January 21, 2024, https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401526597
- Reese's Official Website, "Bracket Busting", March 2024, https://www.hersheyland.com/reeses-bracket-busting
- Olympics.com, "Tyrese Haliburton", accessed 2024, https://olympics.com/en/athletes/tyrese-haliburton
- Iowa State University Athletics, "Haliburton Becomes First Cyclone Men’s Basketball Player To Win Olympic Gold", July 7, 2024, https://cyclones.com/news/2024/7/7/mens-basketball-haliburton-becomes-first-cyclone-mens-basketball-player-to-win-olympic-gold.aspx
