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Bennett Stirtz calls a play against Ohio State.Bennett Stirtz calls a play against Ohio State.
Men's Basketball

Stirtz Earns All-Big Ten Recognition

University of Iowa senior Bennett Stirtz has been named a first-team All-Big Ten selection by the media and a second-team honoree by the coaches, it was announced Tuesday on B1G Today on the Big Ten Network.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa senior Bennett Stirtz has been named a first-team All-Big Ten selection by the media and a second-team honoree by the coaches, it was announced Tuesday on B1G Today on the Big Ten Network.

The Liberty, Missouri, native was also named a second-team All-Big Ten selection by The Associated Press and was Iowa’s recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.  He is the first Hawkeye to garner first-team All-Big Ten recognition since Kris Murray in 2023. 

Stirtz finished third in the Big Ten in league-only games, averaging 22.2 points to go along with 3.8 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals.  He finished with a .500/.373/.839 shooting clip and had 13 20-point and three 30-point contests.

During a four-game stretch in February, Stirtz scored 122 points – the most by a Hawkeye since Luka Garza’s 126 in November 2020 and the most by an Iowa player in Big Ten games since downtown Freddy Brown in 1971.  Stirtz scored 32 points at Oregon, 22 at Washington, 36 vs. Northwestern and 32 at Maryland.

For the season, Stirtz is third in the Big Ten, averaging 20.2 points to go along with 4.4 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals.  He ranks in the top eight in the conference in scoring (third), steals (sixth) and assists (eighth).

Stirtz is the only player in America with 625+ points, 135+ assists, 75+ 3-pointers, 75+ rebounds and 45+ steals. He is also just the second Hawkeye all-time to have a 600+ point, 100+ assist season, joining Andre Woolridge. 

The All-Big Ten recognition continues Stirtz’s meteoric rise. He was a second-team Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) selection as a sophomore at Northwest Missouri State at the Division II level before garnering first-team All-Missouri Valley and MVC Player of the Year distinction as a junior at Drake.  He’s now one of the top players in the Big Ten Conference.

Stirtz is joined on the media’s first team by Keaton Wagler (Illinois), Yaxel Lendeborg (Michigan) and Jeremy Fears, Jr. (Michigan State). Nebraska’s Pryce Sandfort was the fifth player on the coaches’ first team.

The ninth-seeded Hawkeyes open Big Ten Tournament play Wednesday, facing the winner of the Oregon/Maryland game at 11 a.m. (CT) at the United Center in Chicago. The game will be televised on the NBC Sports Network/Peacock.