By MATT PIKE
From Liberty High School, to Northwest Missouri State University, Drake, and Iowa, guard Bennett Stirtz is now headed to the next level being drafted in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft.
Stirtz was selected with the No. 16 pick in the NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies, but was then traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The journey to become a pro now complete for Stirtz, after going from being an initially unranked prospect out of Liberty, receiving no Division I offers and coming to play at Northwest Missouri State in Division II, before becoming a highly sought-after player in the transfer portal following head coach Ben McCollum to Drake and Iowa, becoming a five-star prospect and the No. 2 overall player in the nation, per On3 Sports.
Stirtz enjoyed a stellar career at Northwest being named the MIAA Freshman of the Year and second-team All-MIAA in his first season with the Bearcats averaging 12.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists. Stirtz repeated as a second-team All-MIAA selection as a sophomore after averaging 15.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. Following his sophomore season, when McCollum left Northwest to take the head coaching job at Drake, Stirtz followed the man that recruited him to the Division I ranks.
With the Bulldogs, Stirtz helped carry the team averaging 39.4 minutes on the court and starting all 35 games. He averaged 19.2 points per game, 5.7 assists per game, and pulled down 4.3 rebounds per game. Stirtz was named the Missouri Valley Conference Larry Bird Player of the Year and the Missouri Valley Confernce Newcomer of Year after leading league in scoring, steals, and assist/turnover ratio, while ranking second in assists. He also joined Larry Bird as only players in Missouri Valley Conference history to achieve at least 600 points, 180 assists, and 70 steals in a season.
Stirtz also helped the Bulldogs in the NCAA Tournament as Drake secured the No. 11 seed in the tournament after winning the Missouri Valley Conference tournament title, along with the regular season title, and defeated No. 6 seed Missouri 67–57, earning their first Round of 64 NCAA Tournament win since 1971. Their season however came to an end in the second round after a hard-fought loss to Texas Tech.
After such a stellar season, Stirtz had the opportunity to enter the draft, but instead followed McCollum again who left Drake after one season to go even closer to his home to coach at Iowa. With the Hawkeyes, Stirtz started all 37 games, averaging 19.8 points, 4.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals becoming the first Iowa player in 26 years to lead the team in scoring, assists and steals. He was also the first Hawkeye to finish with 700+ points, 100+ assists and 50+ steals in a single season, the only player in the nation to have 730+ points, 160+ assists, 95+ rebounds, 90+ three pointers and 50+ steals
Stirtz made his way into the Hawkeye record books, his 734 points are the fourth-most in a single season in program history. He played a program record 1,396 minutes during the course of the season and finished third in the single season record books in field goal attempts and three point attempts, fifth in three pointers and field goals, 13th in assists, 19th in free throws, and 21st in steals. Stirtz finished 17-5 in win or go home games in his collegiate career, averaging 22.2 points in Big Ten play, the second-most by a Hawkeye in the last 20 years and he averaged 18.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the NCAA Tournament, leading Iowa to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1987.
Stirtz was in attendance in Brookyln for the NBA Draft, where he was joined by family and Iowa head coach Ben McCollum.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.