Liberty native Bennett Stirtz to follow Ben McCollum to Iowa

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - One of the stars of March Madness this season is headed to a new school for his senior season.

Liberty, Missouri, native Bennett Stirtz is following his head coach, Ben McCollum, from Drake to Iowa for his senior season.

The news was first reported by Field of 68′s Jeff Goodman on Tuesday, a day after McCollum announced that he’d accepted the head coaching job at Iowa.

Stirtz averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game for Drake during the 2024-25 season while playing the most minutes per game in the country. A year after starring for McCollum at Division II Northwest Missouri State, Stirtz followed McCollum to Des Moines and became the Larry Bird Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year.

READ MORE: Iowa hires former D2 national champion Ben McCollum after season at Drake

He was also named an AP Honorable Mention All-American.

The 6-foot-4 guard who prepped at Liberty High School was ranked No. 35 on ESPN’s NBA Draft rankings, but plans to suit up for the Hawkeyes next season. He had 21 points and four assists in a first-round victory over No. 6 seed Missouri last week in the NCAA Tournament. He then had 21 points and eight assists in a Round of 32 loss to Texas Tech.

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