His Iowa State teammates had just wrapped up a 20-point win against North Dakota State, but Deonte Burton’s night was just getting started.

Less than 20 minutes after the final buzzer had sounded, Burton was in a practice jersey getting shots up in front of a few lingering fans at Hilton Coliseum.

His teammates were done for the night. But Burton, who was still ineligible to play for Iowa State per transfer rules, had work to do.

After months of watching his teammates play and practicing against the starters, Burton will finally get to join them this weekend at the Big 4 Classic, where Iowa State will take on Northern Iowa at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The 6-foot-4 250 pounder who Georges Niang classified as “a freak of nature” is expected to be a big addition to the team, where he can add some front court depth while also adding some versatility to the lineup.

“The thing that I think he brings to this team is just an aggressive nature and obviously he’s a physical specimen just living above the rim,” Niang said.

Not surprisingly, ISU point guard Monté Morris said he is excited to get Burton into transition, as Burton has already made a reputation for his dunking ability before playing a single game for the Cyclones. This Cyclones.tv video might have something to do with that:

There is also Burton’s Hilton Madness performance, when he dunked while wearing a pair of work boots or his performance at the Cap City League, where Burton routinely threw down highlight reel dunks. Last, but not least, there is this vine of one of Burton’s dunks at Marquette that went viral:  

Burton is expected to jump right into the rotation coming off the bench alongside Hallice Cooke and Matt Thomas, but ISU coach Steve Prohm warned that introducing Burton into the lineup is a slow process.

“Deonte is a terrific player, but we’ve just got to slowly work him in,” Prohm said. “There is no perfect scenario. You just have to slowly ease him into the transition.”

Burton is also tampering his expectations. After sitting out for so long, Burton is excited to get back on the court and help the team in any way possible. His goal for his debut is simple.

“To win,” Burton said. “If I play one minute, if I play 20 minutes I just want to win.”

Burton will likely get some reps with the regular rotation guys this week to start after spending most of his time this season on the scout team.

While Burton and the starters are excited to play together, they might be even more excited to not have to play against each other anymore. Burton has been a pain in Niang’s side all season when they’ve squared off in practice.

Burton has played the role of the instigator, and by all accounts, practices have gotten heated at times because of it.

“I actually prefer going against them,” Burton said. “It’s a lot more fun.”

With only a few practices separating Burton from his Iowa State debut, he surprisingly said he hasn’t felt “super excited” about it yet, but he said he’d probably get more excited as the game nears.

“I’ve been watching since last year,” Burton said. “I’m kind of used to it.”

Not for much longer, Deonte.