His blonde crew cut bears resemblance to Ollie McLellan of Hoosiers fame, but Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz shines beyond his cinematic likeness. He doesn’t shoot free throws underhanded, and having started 111 consecutive games, he certainly isn’t a benchwarmer.
Rather, in his first season in Iowa City, Stirtz is the Jimmy Chitwood for the Hawkeyes — a star both the team and surrounding community know can carry the team to the mountaintop.
For Iowa, the destination is a return to the NCAA Tournament, a mile marker the Hawkeyes fell short of the past two seasons. Under new head coach Ben McCollum, the Hawkeyes aim for postseason relevance, playing meaningful games before packed crowds down the stretch.
While the journey to such a future hasn’t been linear, Stirtz has remained a constant main attraction. In case his team-leading 17.6 points, 5.1 assists, and 1.6 steals don’t scream that fact, just look at his profile on Iowa Athletics’ website, where expert testimony articulates beyond
such statistics.
“He knows how to play at the highest level of basketball IQ,” Field of 68 basketball analyst Jeff Goodman said.
“He has that differentness about him that you don’t see too often at the college level,” CBS Sports college basketball analyst Dan Dickau said.
“More valuable to his team than any other player in America,” college basketball insider Jon Rothstein said.
Whether it be his prompt decision-making or dynamic pace of play on the court, Stirtz’s impact on Iowa is both obvious and intangible.
As former NBA veteran turned analyst Steve Smith called him, Stritz is the pilot and copilot of the Hawkeyes. Yet throughout his basketball journey, Stirtz’s view from the cockpit has changed, from Division II Northwest Missouri State to mid-major Drake and now to Power
Four Iowa.
Nevertheless, the difference in scenery didn’t change Stirtz as he evolved from overlooked recruit to nationwide name and NBA prospect.
He’s been with the same girlfriend, now fiancee, who he proposed to in August. He still drives the same car he received in high school — a white 2013 Chrysler 300 he got from his grandma. If the vehicle sits outside too long, it won’t start.
The people around Stirtz take notice of his behavior.
“He treats people the exact same way,” Stirtz’s dad Roger said. “Nothing has or nothing will change in that regard.”
Stirtz’s first basketball interactions began with his brothers. Older siblings Mason and Caden and younger brother Cooper were Stirtz’s first opponents and teammates, their games held on the driveway of their home in Liberty, Missouri.
Roger, a former player at Emporia State University in Kansas, was the varsity men’s basketball coach at the local high school, and the gym offered another setting of competition for his four sons.
Growing up, Stirtz first impressed his father with his awareness. Whether it be a youth basketball or flag football game, Stirtz could always size up the situation and sense what needed to be done at that moment. Oftentimes, it meant playing the hero, but Roger never considered his son selfish.
Ever mindful of the situation, Stirtz would base his play off his team’s opposition. Against weaker foes, Stirtz’s goal wasn’t to set a scoring record for himself but create career-highs for his teammates. A natural point guard, Stirtz ran a democratic offense, where teammates’ successes were just as valuable as his own.
“He would never, ever be the high scorer,” Roger recalled. “He would always distribute. His goal would be, ‘Hey, how many assists can I get?’”
While Roger doesn’t consider himself pessimistic, he wasn’t the first to see his son’s talent as Stirtz earned consecutive all-state selections in his junior and senior years at Liberty High School. Instead, assistant coaches marveled at Stirtz’s “unbelievable” play, his state of mind always two passes ahead.
Prior to any skill evaluation, Roger knew his son’s work ethic, one honed his sophomore year with a new morning routine: wake up at 5:30 a.m. and in the gym 30 minutes later. No teenager wants to get up that early, and Roger admitted his son needed some encouragement at first, but added “success breeds success.” Once the results arrived, his son’s motivation began to internalize.
Standing at 6-foot-4, Stirtz’s height wasn’t an issue in his recruitment, but the guard didn’t receive any Division I offers. Roger can’t pinpoint a specific reason. His son possessed athleticism but didn’t really look the part at 180 pounds. His AAU team performed well at tournaments, but Stirtz was never the focal point of the squad.
“I feel like I’ve played with just motivation and a chip on my shoulder my whole career,” Stirtz said. “And I couldn’t imagine not having that.”
From an outsider’s perspective, Stirtz fell through the cracks during college recruitment, but in Rogers’ eyes, his son landed in the ideal spot at Northwest Missouri State, winners of two national titles under McCollum, who valued unselfishness just as much as Roger.
“He said, ‘I’ll bench Bennett if he’s being too selfish on the court,’” Roger said.
Embracing this warning, Stirtz led the conference with a 2.28 assist-to-turnover ratio but also a 60.1 field goal percentage in his first collegiate season. After winning consecutive national championships, McCollum took the Drake job, and Stirtz followed him via the transfer portal.
A move up to Division I only elevated Stirtz’s game. He won the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year after leading the league in scoring with 19.2 points per game. Roger said in November of that season, agents began reaching out, but Stirtz didn’t want any interference, even if they portended a bright future. Roger and McCollum handled the attention instead.
“He has the unique ability to just eliminate all distractions and focus on the main thing, and he probably does that better than anyone I’ve ever seen,” Roger said.
Last spring after transferring to Iowa, Stirtz had an opportunity to test the NBA waters, such as entering the NBA Draft Combine and receiving feedback and evaluations from teams, similar to what former Hawkeye Payton Sandfort did prior to his final season. Yet Stirtz declined, opting not to deter any focus from his new team — one that relied on him but also learned how to operate in his absence.
Over Iowa’s first 13 games, Stirtz averaged 36 minutes per contest, tallying five matchups where he never saw the bench. But now with conference action in full swing, Stirtz has been forced to watch from the sidelines, as he picked up at least three fouls in each of the Hawkeyes’ last three games.
Stirtz picked up his fourth foul with eight minutes and 23 seconds to go in the second half against UCLA and went to the bench, eventually returning as Iowa earned a 74-61 win.
“I was a fan. It was definitely different and weird, but I trust my teammates, and I know the work they put in,” Stirtz said. “I trust them 100 percent.”
Never hesitant to praise his teammates, Stirtz is the same with those from his hometown. Over 50 friends and family attended the contest against the Bruins and gathered in the Bob Feller Club Room postgame.
Stirtz, fresh off a team-high 27 points, stopped by and thanked everyone who made the trip. No matter how high he ascends, Stirtz remains at ground level with the people who helped him achieve.
“They’re first,” Roger said. “They’re more important than him.”