Iowa City Today

University of Iowa senior Bennett Stirtz has been selected for the 2025-26 Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Watch List, according to an announcement from the Atlanta Tipoff Club/Naismith Awards on Monday.

This marks Stirtz's second preseason Player of the Year recognition, following his inclusion in the NABC watch list last Friday.

Stirtz, who comes from Liberty, Missouri, has received several other preseason honors. He was named a preseason All-American by CBS Sports (second team), Field of 68 (second team), Jon Rothstein (second team), Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook (fourth team), and Jay Bilas (honorable mention). Additionally, he is listed on the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Watch List.

Stirtz is beginning his first season with Iowa after transferring from Drake University. Last season at Drake, he earned All-American status from three outlets and was recognized as both the Missouri Valley Conference Larry Bird Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.

He led the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring with 19.2 points per game, steals with 2.21 per game, and had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.86. He also ranked second in assists at 5.7 per game and led all NCAA players in minutes played, averaging just over 39 minutes per game.

Stirtz is one of thirteen Big Ten Conference players named to this year’s watch list. Other players include Oregon’s Nate Bittle and Jackson Shelstad; Wisconsin’s John Blackwell; UCLA’s Donovan Dent; Indiana’s Tucker DeVries; Illinois’ Ivisic Tomislav and Andrej Stojakovic; Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn and Braden Smith; Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg; Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli; and Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton.

Iowa will open its season against Robert Morris on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Central Time at Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game will be broadcast on BTN. Tickets are available online through hawkeyesports.com/tickets.