Bennett Stirtz is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

player for the

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 20 sports, 7 for men and 13 for women; The teams participate in Division I of the Nati ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. He previously played for the

Northwest Missouri State Bearcats The Northwest Missouri State Bearcats are the athletic teams for Northwest Missouri State University, located in Maryville, Missouri. The Bearcats play in the NCAA Division II. Northwest is a founding member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Ath ...

and

Drake Bulldogs The Drake Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Drake University, located in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The Bulldogs' athletic program is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) and competes at the NCA ...

Early life and high school

Stirtz grew up in

Liberty, Missouri Liberty is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Missouri, United States and is a suburb of Kansas City, located in the Kansas City Metro Area. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 30,167. Liberty is home to Willia ...

and attended Liberty High School. He played basketball at Liberty and was coached by his father. Stirtz was named first-team All-State as a senior after averaging 18.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2.5 steals per game.

College career

Stirtz began his college career at Northwest Missouri State. He was named the

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Its fourteen me ...

(MIAA) Freshman of the Year and second-team All-MIAA in his first season with the Bearcats. 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. Stirtz transferred to

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

after his sophomore season, following former Northwest Missouri head coach

Ben McCollum Benjamin Matthew McCollum (born April 12, 1981) is an American basketball coach who is currently the head men's basketball coach at the University of Iowa. Biography McCollum was born in Iowa City, Iowa, and grew up in Storm Lake, Iowa, where ...

. He was named the

Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year The Larry Bird Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an annual award given to the Missouri Valley Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1968–69 season. It was renamed to honor ...

and the conference Newcomer of the Year at the end of the regular season. After one season in Des Moines, Stirtz announced he would be entering the transfer portal and follow McCollum to Iowa City.

References

External links

Northwest Missouri State Bearcats bioDrake Bulldogs bioIowa Hawkeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stirtz, Bennett Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Missouri Northwest Missouri State Bearcats men's basketball players Drake Bulldogs men's basketball players People from Liberty, Missouri Sportspeople from Clay County, Missouri Point guards