‘He bet on himself’: Former Wichita State star Tyson Etienne signs 2-way NBA contract
Another former Shocker is on the doorstep of making his NBA debut.
In the midst of a breakout season in the G League, former Wichita State star Tyson Etienne was signed to a 2-way contract by the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.
Etienne, who played at WSU from 2019-22, leads the G League in 3-pointers made (84) this season and is averaging 20.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals on 50.6% shooting from the floor and 47.5% accuracy beyond the arc for Brooklyn’s G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets.
“I just got a FaceTime call from my son before he was boarding a plane and it’s just crazy,” Max Etienne, Tyson’s father, told The Eagle. “It immediately took me back to the ball in his crib, him not wanting to watch Sesame Street, wanting to watch NBA instead. All of those emotions came up. You think about all of the hard work he’s put in and I’m just extremely proud of my son because he’s getting to fulfill his dream.”
While signing a 2-way contract does not necessarily guarantee playing time in the NBA, Etienne is now available for the Brooklyn Nets to call up to its NBA roster for the final 21 games of the regular season. Etienne’s first opportunity to potentially suit up comes Thursday when the Nets host the Golden State Warriors in Brooklyn.
If Etienne does see the floor, he would be the 12th former Shocker to play in the NBA since 2013, joining Gal Mekel, Cleanthony Early, Toure Murry, Fred VanVleet, Ron Baker, Landry Shamet, Austin Reaves, Jaime Echenique, Craig Porter Jr., Ricky Council IV and Dexter Dennis.
Etienne would be the fourth player alone from WSU’s historic 2021 American Athletic Conference championship team to see NBA playing time, joining Porter, Council and Dennis. Etienne earned Co-Player of the Year honors in the AAC while leading the Shockers to their first and only AAC title and an NCAA Tournament berth that season.
After departing from WSU early to pursue his professional career, Etienne has grinded for the past three seasons in the G League — notorious for cheap pay and cheap travel, but the best route for prospective NBA players looking to play their way into the league. After struggling to receive playing time at College Park, the Hawks’ G League affiliate, Etienne has blossomed in Long Island — the same place where he played his high school basketball. He scored a career-high 43 points in a game last month.
“For a player like Tyson, he could have easily started out chasing the money and gone overseas,” former WSU assistant Tyson Waterman, who recruited Etienne, told The Eagle. “But he bet on himself. He turned down a lot of money to go play abroad and believed in himself. It wasn’t easy. There were a lot of ups and downs, but at the end of the day, he persevered. He kept his head down and fought through adversity when things didn’t go his way. He just kept praying and kept believing.”
Waterman, who is currently an assistant at UCF, has remained in close contact with Etienne since their time together inside Koch Arena.
Etienne played one season for Gregg Marshall, then had his breakout season under Isaac Brown. When the power-conference programs came calling to try to sway him to enter the transfer portal, Etienne stayed loyal to the Shockers and returned for a third and final season before leaving to chase his NBA dream.
“It’s been so awesome to watch because I know how passionate he is about the game and how particular he is about every little detail,” Waterman said. “Tyson is a guy who truly wants to get better daily. He never rushed the process. He approached every day in Wichita like he was already in the NBA. The proof is starting to show up in his play now. I always tell the guys who I recruit that on the other side of hard is where you see the value of everything that you do. Tyson is the perfect example of that.”
This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 6:02 AM.
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