Marial Shayok on Iowa State’s Tyrese Haliburton: ‘I’m proud of him’

The two each played together for Iowa State during the 2018-19 season, leading the Cyclones to the Big 12 Championship.

Iowa State guard Tyrese Haliburton announced this week on social media that he will leave school early to sign with an agent and enter the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft.

Haliburton has emerged as a potential lottery pick in the NBA Draft after a strong sophomore season with the Cyclones in which he averaged 15.2 points, 6.5 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 2.5 steals in 22 games.

The 6-foot-5 guard has been touted as a strong 3-and-D threat given his 7-foot wingspan and ability to shoot from deep. He converted on 41.9% of his looks from 3-point range this season.

As Haliburton had a great season, his former Cyclones teammate, Marial Shayok, kept an eye on him and liked what he saw from Haliburton this season.

“It has been great. I’m just proud of him,” Shayok told Rookie Wire. “I knew coming into this year, he was expected to have a bigger role and that possibly he could make that jump to the NBA. Seeing that he could possibly be one of the top picks is great to see.”

The two each played together during the 2018-19 season before Shayok was selected with the 54th overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2019 NBA Draft. They led the Cyclones to the Big 12 Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to No. 11 Ohio State in the first round.

Haliburton is the No. 4 prospect on the latest 2020 Rookie Wire NBA Draft Big Board.

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