Iowa basketball head coach Ben McCollum. Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Iowa begins Ben McCollum era with transfer player getting named to preseason All-Big Ten team

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated Oct 8, 2025 12:16 AM ET

The Iowa Hawkeyes are entering a new era on the men's college basketball side of things. After 15 seasons under Fran McCaffery, which produced many highs but also some lows, the Hawks went out and got one of the best young up-and-coming coaches in the game.

Ben McCollum completely remade Iowa's roster

Ben McCollum, formerly of Drake, is the new head coach in Iowa, and there's a ton of hype surrounding his tenure before it's even begun. One of the biggest things that McCollum has done right away is quickly remake the Hawkeyes in his image.

He brought in eight players via the transfer portal, including five who followed him from a Drake team that went 31-4 and won a March Madness game in a big upset over Missouri last season.

The Bennett Stirtz hype train continues — for good reason

Speaking of hype, one of those players, senior Bennett Stirtz, is getting a ton of it as the season quickly approaches. So much so that Stirtz was named to the preseason All-Big Ten team by the conference.

It makes sense, too.

Another preseason nod.

Preseason All-B1G for Stirtz pic.twitter.com/hiaya2SIr1
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) October 7, 2025

Stirtz, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound guard from Liberty, Missouri, was tremendous for McCollum at Drake last season. There will certainly be questions about his ability to translate to Big Ten play, but he already knows McCollum's scheme, and there is reason to believe he'll be just fine based on what he did against Missouri in the NCAA Tournament.

Last season at Drake, Stirtz led the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring (19.2), steals (2.1) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.86). He ranked second in the conference in assists with 5.7 per game, and he led every player in the NCAA in minutes played with 39:4 per game.

He was named the Missouri Valley Conference Larry Bird Player of the Year and the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year. Before going to Drake, Stirtz played at Northwest Missouri State.

Against Missouri in the NCAA Tournament, he notched 21 points, four assists, one rebound and one steal in Drake's 67-57 upset win. In a Round 2 loss to Texas Tech, Stirtz scored 21 points with eight assists and three rebounds.

He should be just fine in the Big Ten based on those results, so keep an eye out for both him and the Hawkeyes this season. More than likely, McCollum is going to start out fast in Iowa City.

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

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