What kind of reception will ex-Cyclone Tyrese Hunter get at Hilton? We asked Adam Haluska.
AMES – He had played on that floor more than a dozen times, but as Adam Haluska stood in the tunnel between the court and the visitors’ locker room at Hilton Coliseum, he wondered what awaited him.
“I won’t lie, I was nervous,” Haluska said as he recalled the moment from December 2005. “I could hear (the fans) in the tunnel. I remember waiting to go out there, and they were on me from the beginning.”
Haluska drew the ferocity of the Iowa State crowd like few before or since as a former Cyclone who transferred to play for rival Iowa.
Tuesday night, though, another player will likely join his ranks.
Tyrese Hunter, who starred as the freshman point guard for Iowa State’s Sweet 16 team last year, will return to Hilton Coliseum as a member of the Texas Longhorns and a surefire bet to be cast as a villain by the home crowd.
“I expect it to be crazy,” Hunter said in October about playing as a visitor at Iowa State. “It was crazy when I was there last year playing as the lowest-ranked team in the conference. For me to come up in there, I expect it to be crazy, but that’s what fans are supposed to do, whether I came in there or LeBron James came in there.”
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Hunter’s departure from Iowa State last spring was a seismic shock to the Cyclones program. Keeping Hunter in the fold was coach T.J. Otzelberger’s top priority when he took over the Iowa State program in the spring of 2021, and it was a major victory when the four-star recruit decided to keep his commitment to Iowa State.
Otzelberger and his staff gave the true freshman a huge role and tons of responsibility as the starting point guard, and Hunter was instrumental in the team’s turnaround from two wins to the Sweet 16 in Otzelberger’s first season. Hunter looked to be the player Iowa State would build around until he ultimately left for the NBA.
Instead, he opted for the transfer portal and a conference rival despised by the rest of the league for its abundant resources and the destabilizing influence of its impending move to the Southeastern Conference.
That will make Hunter − once beloved by Iowa State fans for his play, his infectious smile and his perseverance after losing both his parents before he entered high school − a marked man by the Cyclone faithful.
“It won’t be weird because I’m an opponent,” Hunter said in the fall at Big 12 media day. “I expect it to be like that. It’ll be like that wherever I go.”
It will be different, though, at Hilton Coliseum.
“Coming back, I knew I was going to get it,” said Haluska, a Carroll native who committed to Iowa State as a high school sophomore and started as a true freshman. “And rightfully so. I deserved it. That was the part that, I’m going to take it. I know it’s going to be bad, but I deserve it.
“I would see why the fans would feel a little bit torn, especially all those that had cheered for you the year before. Now you’re wearing the enemy’s colors.”
Hunter is averaging 10.6 points, 2.8 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game for a Longhorns that is 15-2 overall, 4-1 in the Big 12 and ranked seventh in the country. Rodney Terry has been the program’s interim coach after Chris Beard was arrested on a domestic violence charge last month. Beard, who has pleaded not guilty, was fired by Texas two weeks ago.
The Longhorns’ status as a Big 12 and national title contender makes Tuesday’s game a massive one for the Cyclones, even without Hunter’s appearance.
“This is an important game for both of us,” Iowa State senior Caleb Grill said Monday. “Every game at Hilton, we’ve got to win.”
The Cyclones did their best ahead of the game to downplay their former teammate’s return as something meaningful to them.
“I have a lot of gratitude and thankfulness to all the guys that were on our team last year and what they did to help jumpstart our program,” Otzelberger said. “I understand the player and the competitor that he is, at the same time our focus is on moving forward on our team, our group.”
As for the reception Hunter receives from Iowa State fans, Otzelberger was ambivalent.
“I don’t have any thoughts on how our crowd reacts to any opponent,” he said. “It’s not something I’ve ever factored into coaching strategy. We’re fortunate to have passionate fans that are enthusiastic, and they love to support the players on our team, so we’re grateful for that.”
Haluska, though, knows exactly what Hunter is in for, even if the sting of Hunter's departure has been blunted by a successful Iowa State team and another true freshman, Ames native Tamin Lipsey, thriving as the starting point guard.
“It’s just a tough environment, “ said Haluska, whose Iowa team lost that 2005 Cy-Hawk matchup. “The biggest thing is he’s got to come in and try to block it out.
“You’ve just got to grind and take it possession by possession. If you take it too personal, that’s where you can really let it affect your game.
“It’s a pretty special place to come play, and a lot of attention is going to be on him.”
Travis Hines covers Iowa State University sports for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him at @TravisHines21.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State's one-time cornerstone Tyrese Hunter returns as an opponent
