Offensive Game
Advanced shot-creator and shooter who manipulates ball-screen coverages and spaces the floor at 36% from three.
2026 NBA Draft
Selected 16th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies, rights traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder
First Team All-Big Ten
Named First Team All-Big Ten at Iowa in 2026 after averaging 19.8 points and 4.4 assists
Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year
Won MVC Player of the Year at Drake in 2025
Bennett Stirtz grew up in Liberty, Missouri, and took an uncommon route to the NBA. He starred at Division II Northwest Missouri State, earned MIAA Freshman of the Year, then transferred to Drake, where he was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. A final season at Iowa cemented his stock: 19.8 points, 4.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals on 48/36/86 shooting, plus First Team All-Big Ten honors. Stirtz operates as a high-feel lead guard, a pick-and-roll craftsman who reads coverages, changes pace, and knocks down pull-ups off the dribble. Questions center on his lateral quickness on defense and whether his average burst translates against NBA length. Memphis selected him 16th overall in the 2026 NBA Draft and traded his rights to Oklahoma City, where he projects as a secondary playmaker and floor-spacer in a deep, ball-movement offense.
Offensive Game
Advanced shot-creator and shooter who manipulates ball-screen coverages and spaces the floor at 36% from three.
Defensive Game
Average lateral quickness and length invite mismatch hunting; more of a positional than disruptive defender.
Intangibles
Among the highest feel in the class; processes reads quickly and rarely forces bad possessions.
Did You Know?
First former Division II player selected in the first round of the NBA Draft since Derrick White in 2017.
Followed head coach Ben McCollum from Northwest Missouri State to Drake and then to Iowa.
Full name is Bennett Carl Stirtz; born October 3, 2003.
Career Honors
First Team All-Big Ten (2026)
MVC Player of the Year (2025)
MIAA Freshman of the Year (2023)
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Oklahoma City Thunder
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