By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – When asked at a recent press conference to describe his college basketball career in one word, Iowa senior point guard Bennett Stirtz responded right away by saying: “different.”

Stirtz is right in one way to say different because it isn’t very often that a player in just two years goes from being a decent Division II player to one of the top collegiate point guards in the country at the Power 4 level, and a likely first-round NBA draft pick.

“It’s a little weird. But I’ve loved it so far,” Stirtz said of his journey.

The weird part is how far the 6-foot-4 Stirtz has progressed as a player; from his two seasons at Division II Northwest Missouri State where at first he lacked confidence to his breakout season at Drake last season to now being a Hawkeye for just one season.

“That’s pretty crazy,” Stirtz said. “This place has been great, though, I wish I was here all four years.

“But all the stops in my career have been great for me and I’m very appreciative.”

What isn’t unusual or weird about Stirtz’s situation is that he has played for multiple schools, in his case three.

In this new age of the transfer portal and NIL, it would be more unusual, or weird, if Stirtz had played his entire career for the Hawkeyes because that kind of thing rarely happens anymore.

Stirtz and fellow seniors Tavion Banks and Brendan Hausen will be honored before Thursday’s home finale against Big Ten regular-season champion Michigan at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The 6-7 Banks also has spent just one season at Iowa after having previously played for Drake last season and for a junior college in Florida as a freshman and sophomore, while Hausen also has spent just one season as a Hawkeye after having previously played for Kansas State and Villanova.

So between the three of them, Stirtz, Banks and Hausen have played for nine different schools along the way.

That would have been almost unheard of barely five years ago, but Stirtz, Banks and Hausen are now part of a growing trend.

According to Isaac Trotter from 247sports, there are only 22 high-major scholarship players who will celebrate Senior Night this week, having played at just one school.

Mississippi State’s Shawn Jones Jr., according to Trotter, is the only SEC senior to finish where he started, while only 10 Big Ten seniors have played all four or more seasons with their original school.

Senior Day used to be time to reflect and to show appreciation for those who stayed loyal and stayed the course, but those days are are long gone.

Iowa fans will certainly show their appreciation for their three seniors on Thursday, but in each case, there hasn’t been much time for fans to get to know any of the three.

Stirtz has sort of been like a comet racing through the night; one minute he’s there with his brilliance, and the next he’s gone, but he certainly won’t be forgotten.

And with Stirtz the whole way in college has been first-year Iowa head coach Ben McCollum, who recruited to Stirtz to Northwest Missouri State and then convinced Stirtz to follow him to Drake and then to Iowa.

“I think we’ve been through a lot just moving so many different times,” McCollum said. “We’ll probably never realize it until five or six years down the road like it is a pretty epic deal. I mean who does that? Who does what he did, go from d-two to mid-major? It’s the span of a two-year deal.

“He was just in Merryville two years ago. This is ridiculous what he’s done. So we’ll probably look back at it in like four or five years, and be like, ‘man, this is pretty cool.’

“And to handle it the way he’s done it and taken it in stride and handle it with the humility that he does and still be a good person is pretty impressive.”

Stirtz grew up round the game of basketball and he would go on to play for his father in high school.

And even though he had success in high school, including twice making all-state and leading his team to a runner-up finish at the state tournament in 2021, Stirtz was mostly overlooked as a recruit.

The Liberty, Missouri native drew no attention from mid-major schools, and didn’t even have many Division II schools in hot pursuit, expect for McCollum at Northwest Missouri State.

McCollum saw something in Stirtz from a talent and potential standpoint that even Stirtz didn’t see at first.

“When we recruited him, I thought he was a mid-major kid, and then we stole him,” McCollum said. “And then I coached him and I’m like, ‘he can play high-major basketball. And now it’s like, he can play in the NBA.

“So he just always kind of rises above where you think he is. So we had an idea when we got him and then he was even better than we expected and then he continues to even show that he’s even better than we expect now.”

The soft-spoken Stirtz credits McCollum’s faith in him as a player for helping Stirtz to first realize and then reach his vast potential.

“I think that’s what hindered my success a little bit, or kind of brought me down as a player is my confidence,” Stirtz said. “I didn’t know if I could hang with everyone in the country, or anything like that. And so I think he’s really helped my confidence, just by watching film and teaching me more moves and things like that.”

Stirtz has been stuffing the stat sheet throughout the season as he leads Iowa in scoring (20.5), assists (130), 3-point field goals (72) and steals (40).

Iowa is also in position to make the NCAA Tournament with records of 20-9 overall and 10-8, but is also coming off a disappointing 71-69 loss at last-place Penn State this past Saturday.

“Glad a I chose here,” Stirtz said. “Great coaching staff and the dude who has helped me become the player I am, coach Mac. I didn’t want to leave him, and he knows what’s best for me. My family knows what’s best for me and they all pointed me here. I’m just super glad that I was here in Iowa City.”

And while Banks is technically a senior, he might have a chance to return for at least one more season since he played in junior college.

Recent court rulings have challenged NCAA rules with the goal of potentially granting junior college athletes more eligibility by not counting their JUCO years against their four-year limit. This shift would potentially allow for more athletes to play yup to six years.

“Somebody is pursuing it right now,” McCollum said.

Banks said he hasn’t given it much thought.

“I’m not thinking about it at all,” said Banks, who is from Kansas City, Missouri. “I’m just like let it run its course, and if it happens, it happens.”

Hausen was known for his 3-point shooting prowess when he came to Iowa from Kansas State, but so far, he has struggled to find playing time.

The Amarillo, Texas native has played in 20 games and is shooting 33.3 percent from three, having made 22-of-66 attempts from behind the arc.

As for the Senior Day ceremony on Thursday, don’t look for McCollum to get overly emotional or emotional at all.

He will have enough on his mind trying to devise a game plan to beat the mighty Wolverines, who are undefeated (10-0) away from home, and are trying to become the first Big Ten team to finish undefeated on the road in conference play since Indiana in 1976.

“I honestly am not a big Senior Day guy,” McCollum said. “I appreciate everything that people do. I’m not a moment guy. It’s just never been my thing.”

He then explained why, referring back to when he won his first of four national titles at Northwest Missouri State.

“They’re just moments,” McCollum said. “They’re not like the moments that matter. It’s all the stuff that led up to it. It’s all the memories. And so maybe that moment gives you those memories that come back.

“It’s like winning the national title, when we won it, it was just like, ‘this isn’t that cool. I spent all my time for this moment and this moment sucked. It didn’t suck. But it was just like, it’s not that cool. Then you go back to all the memories to get there and that’s what’s neat about some of those moments saved for Senior Night.”

Stirtz is trying to savor what little time he has left as a Hawkeye, and as a college basketball player.

“I’m trying to take it as slow as possible,” Stirtz said. “My career has just flown by; so just trying to take it slow and take it all in.”

**********

Michigan (27-2, 17-1) vs. Iowa (20-9, 10-8)

When: Thursday, 7 p.m.

Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena

TV/stream: NBC Sports Network, Peacock

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

Series history: Thursday’s game is the 169th meeting all-time between Iowa and Michigan, dating back to 1921.  The Wolverines lead the series, 100-68. Iowa has won three of the last five in the series, but the Wolverines won the most recent contest, 85-83, on Dec. 7, 2024, in Ann Arbor.

Michigan has won nine of the last 14 contests since the Hawkeyes won five straight from 2014-17.

Iowa is 43-40 all-time against the Wolverines in Iowa City, but Michigan has split the last six inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, including winning 90-80 on Dec. 10, 2023.