Stirtz, a Liberty, Missouri, native, was in attendance at Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the draft. He was joined by family and Iowa head coach Ben McCollum.
The selection capped a memorable climb for Stirtz, who went from an under-recruited prospect with no Division I offers to a first-round NBA Draft pick. His college journey included stops at Northwest Missouri State, Drake and Iowa before landing in the NBA with Oklahoma City.
Stirtz (pictured at top via Iowa Athletics) became the 59th Iowa men’s basketball player selected in the NBA Draft, the 12th Hawkeye taken in the first round and the 25th Iowa player picked in the top two rounds. He is Iowa’s highest draft pick since Keegan Murray was taken fourth overall by Sacramento in 2022.
He also becomes the third Hawkeye point guard selected in the first round, joining Ronnie Lester and B.J. Armstrong.
Stirtz, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound guard, earned honorable mention All-America honors from the Associated Press and USBWA and was named first-team All-Big Ten by the media after a standout lone season in Iowa City.
He averaged 19.8 points, 4.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals during the 2025-26 season. Iowa said Stirtz was the only player in the nation that season with at least 730 points, 160 assists, 95 rebounds, 90 three-pointers and 50 steals.
Stirtz finished the year with 734 points, the fourth-most in a single season in Iowa program history. He became just the third Hawkeye to surpass 700 points in a season, joining Keegan Murray and Luka Garza, who accomplished the feat twice.
He scored in double figures in 35 of Iowa’s 37 games, including three 30-point games and 20 games with at least 20 points.
Stirtz also helped lead Iowa to its first Elite Eight appearance since 1987. During the Hawkeyes’ NCAA Tournament run, he averaged 18.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists and was named to the NCAA South Regional All-Region team.
He also received Iowa’s Chris Street Award, one of the program’s most meaningful honors.
Stirtz’s name now appears throughout Iowa’s single-season record book. He finished third in field-goal attempts and three-point attempts, fifth in three-pointers and made field goals, 13th in assists, 19th in free throws and 21st in steals. His 1,396 minutes played set a program record, and he logged 40 or more minutes 17 times.
For his college career, Stirtz totaled 2,352 points, 595 assists, 500 rebounds and 235 steals. Iowa said he became the 11th college player all-time with at least 2,000 points, 550 assists, 450 rebounds and 225 steals.
Before Iowa, Stirtz was a second-team all-conference player at the Division II level with Northwest Missouri State. He later became Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year at Drake before following McCollum to Iowa and proving himself at the Big Ten level.
Stirtz won 115 games as a college player, finishing with an .821 career winning percentage. His next stop is Oklahoma City, where he joins one of the NBA’s top young organizations.
Iowa’s first-round NBA Draft picks
1952 — Chuck Darling, No. 9, Rochester
1970 — John Johnson, No. 7, Cleveland
1971 — Freddy Brown, No. 6, Seattle
1973 — Kevin Kunnert, No. 12, Chicago
1980 — Ronnie Lester, No. 10, Portland
1989 — B.J. Armstrong, No. 18, Chicago
1989 — Roy Marble, No. 23, Atlanta
1993 — Acie Earl, No. 19, Boston
1998 — Ricky Davis, No. 21, Chicago
2022 — Keegan Murray, No. 4, Sacramento
2023 — Kris Murray, No. 23, Portland
2026 — Bennett Stirtz, No. 16, Memphis; traded to Oklahoma City