NEW YORK — Iowa men’s basketball emerged into the national spotlight during its thrilling March Madness run this spring. The Hawkeyes’ upset over 1-seed Florida and run to the program’s first Elite Eight since 1987 made it a major story in college basketball.
Alvaro Folgueiras’ game-winning shot was replayed over and over. Head coach Ben McCollum appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show.” Duke coaching legend Mike Krzyzewski spoke about Iowa’s win over Florida and McCollum.
Almost three months after that memorable NCAA Tournament run, Iowa basketball will return to the national stage yet again.
Bennett Stirtz is among the prospects invited to attend the 2026 NBA Draft in Brooklyn, where he is projected to be a first-round pick (June 23, 7 p.m. CT, ESPN/ABC). The Murray twins were the last two Hawkeyes to go in the first round. Keegan was the fourth overall pick in 2022, and Kris was the 23rd overall pick in 2023.
For Iowa fans, there’s already familiarity with Stirtz’s improbable story. He rose the ranks from Division II Northwest Missouri State to Drake to Iowa, sharing that journey with McCollum. In year one at Iowa, they captured the hearts of the Hawkeye faithful, reinvigorating belief surrounding the program.
Locally, that has already been well-documented.
But Stirtz’s appearance at the NBA Draft — and his impending selection — will put that story back in front of a wider audience.
It’s like a gift-wrapped advertisement for the program. This is Iowa basketball. This is the type of player it can produce. This is the head coach who can help get those players there.
“It sends a message to other people that it’s cool to be a Hawkeye,” McCollum said of Stirtz in February. “Here’s a guy that’ll be in the NBA in a year. He came here, and he’s doing this. Why can’t you? It helps put us on the map.”
Even though he spent just one season at Iowa, Stirtz’s impact is profound. Not only was he the team’s star and offensive engine last season, but Stirtz also serves as the first bridge to the pros in this new era of Iowa basketball.
Needless to say, winning moves the needle. But so does the ability to send players to the next level.
Former coach Fran McCaffery built a reputation for doing that. The Murray twins, Luka Garza, Joe Wieskamp and Payton Sandfort are among those who played for McCaffery at Iowa and went on to reach the NBA.
But after the coaching change, those standards were reset. It was essentially the rebirth of a program, not by name, but by much of everything else.
McCollum has coached his share of star guards, such as DeShaun Cooper, Justin Pitts and Trevor Hudgins, who paved the way for Stirtz. Hudgins appeared briefly for the Houston Rockets after going undrafted. But in the grand scheme of things, they were not as high-profile. McCollum’s development of Stirtz was under a different type of microscope when they made the move to the Big Ten.
It made for an important case study: Is McCollum capable of producing a sought-after NBA Draft prospect?
The answer has become resounding.
And it’s fair to say that people are taking notice.
Iowa freshman Ethan Harris, a four-star prospect in the 2026 high school class, name-dropped Stirtz during a sit-down interview with the Register in February, saying “I think their player development — as you’ve seen with Bennett Stirtz — like unbelievable.”
It matters for even further in the future, too.
The Hawkeyes are pursuing some high-profile guards in the 2027 high school recruiting class, such as five-star Cayden Daughtry, along with four-stars Jaxson Davis and TJ Jamison. Stirtz has become a recognizable figure — almost used like a trendy buzzword — that’s easy to cherry-pick as a success story under McCollum.
“I just love watching Bennett’s game,” Jamison told the Register. “He doesn’t complain. He plays all 40 minutes. He scores the ball when he needs to, makes plays when he needs to and does all the right things.”
Stirtz is one of the most unlikely stories in this NBA Draft cycle. He wasn’t considered much of a prospect coming out of Liberty High School in Missouri. Now he’s projected to be a first-round pick.
It’s quite remarkable, both for Stirtz and McCollum.
Iowa gets to benefit from it now.
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at TTachman@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Hawk Central: The importance of Bennett Stirtz’s NBA Draft story for Iowa basketball
Reporting by Tyler Tachman, Des Moines Register / Hawk Central
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By Tyler Tachman, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
