OSHKOSH – Tyrese Haliburton was back in his hometown of Oshkosh hosting a basketball camp and pointed out a trend of other Wisconsin natives taking a similar path to his. “Iowa State at this point is like Wisconsin State at this point. We get so many kids from the state,” Haliburton said. "That’s special to me because I feel like when I went there, they had, had guys that they’d gotten from Wisconsin. But I feel like I’m probably one of the most prominent ones. “Every kid basically who commits to Iowa State from Wisconsin, I’ve had a conversation with in some shape, form or fashion.” More: Tyrese Haliburton shares Oshkosh North signature shoe More: Why is Iowa State's T.J. Otzelberger so good at recruiting in Wisconsin? Iowa State already has two Wisconsin natives in its 2027 recruiting class in Freedom’s Donovan Davis and Slinger’s Jack Kohnen. The 2026-27 Iowa State men's basketball team will feature six Wisconsin natives. One of those Wisconsin natives also went to Oshkosh North and that is former Wisconsin Mr. Basketball Xzavion Mitchell. The roster also features Jamarion Batemon (Milwaukee Academy of Science), Yusef Gray Jr. (West Allis Central), Leon Bond (Wauwatosa East), Anthony Rise (Brookfield Central) and Jaquan Johnson (Pius XI).
That list doesn’t include Pewaukee native Milan Momcilovic who transferred from Iowa State to the University of Kentucky in the offseason. Haliburton is sure to do his part, but Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger also has Wisconsin roots as he attended St. Thomas More High School in Milwaukee and played at UW-Whitewater in college. But it’s not just the Iowa State guys that Haliburton keeps tabs on as Wisconsin continues to produce NBA talent. More: Why Slinger's Jack Kohnen became Iowa State's latest commit from Wisconsin More: Freedom basketball star Donovan Davis commits to Iowa State “I always follow Wisconsin (high school basketball) because it’s like every year we’re getting more and more kids going to the NBA and that’s special with Kon (Knueppel) being there and I know there’s a lot more kids who have those aspirations so that’s special to me,” Haliburton said. Haliburton will get to return to Ames for a preseason game when the Indiana Pacers play the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 7 at Hilton Coliseum. Contact or send game stats/info to Ben Schultz at BSchultz@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @benschultz52. This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Haliburton points out trend in Wisconsin natives going to Iowa State