The Iowa Hawkeyes (0-0) take on Robert Morris (0-0) and Western Illinois (0-1) tonight & Friday, respectfully as they look to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2024. It’s the longest drought Iowa’s had since they missed the tournament in 2017 & 2018. Prior to that? The long stretch of 2007-2013.
Leading them is Ben McCollum, who has the fifth best all-time, all-division record at .818 in 16 years as a head coach. He’s known for an offense which can dazzle with paint touch/kickout after
paint touch/kickout and an attention to detail on defense. Perhaps most important is his ability to scout & develop players at the most important position: point guard.
(This 2021 preseason profile by The Athletic describes all of what makes McCollum great but mentions each of his PGs at NW Missouri State was playing professionally overseas.)
Enter Bennett Stirtz, who enters the 2025-26 season as a potential lottery pick in the NBA Draft. Iowa hasn’t had a guard selected in the draft since Devyn Marble in 2014. Iowa’s last point guard with serious in the NBA is B.J. Armstrong, drafted in 1989.
The position was Fran McCaffery’s white whale and here McCollum is addressing it in season 1 with a player who garnered zero D-1, let alone high major, offers out of high school.
The question, of course, is: “can it translate?” Stirtz played 98.8% of available minutes last year while maintaining efficiencies across the board: 19.2 PPG, 50% FG, 40% 3P, 2.85 A:TO. He had a steal rate of 3.3% (145th in the country, per KenPom) while fouling just 1.5 times per 40 minutes (49th). If that translates, it sets the Hawks up for incredible success now and down the line as a value proposition for point guard recruiting.
But it is a huge if.
The Missouri Valley’s best (non-Drake) defense (UNI) ranked 102nd per KenPom and Stirtz got loose for 46 points over two games with efficiency, including an overtime game where he played 45 minutes and went 5/9 from deep.
The Big Ten had 15 teams with a defensive rating higher than 102.
Robert Morris and Western Illinois pose no such test defensively (they rank 191 & 358 according to KenPom’s AdjDE) this week but we can still begin to get a feel for how this team will compete all season in these games. One area which can be immediately impacted is Iowa’s defensive effort, possession to possession. Often, Iowa was comfortable to trade baskets in these games when the margin got to 20 or so points, happy to come away with the victory allowing 71 points to East Texas A&M or 77 to USC Upstate.
Does that back and forth game where shots come easy for an opponent, no matter the quality, bug McCollum? Does it bug the players he puts on the floor?
Offensively, the question mark is just how much Iowa relies on Stirtz. He played less than 36 minutes just twice: blowout wins against St. Ambrose and York (Nebraska). Does Iowa play well enough to test the waters without the straw that stirs the drink? Or do they need him for extended run, even if they’ve amassed a big lead.
Iowa brings three other transfers who averaged double-digits in points last year: Tavion Banks*, Alvaro Folguerias, and Brendan Hausen. How does the hierarchy of scoring settle in for these two games? Do they provide much needed spacing for Stirtz to operate?
(note: Banks will be available after a 10/12 arrest according to McCollum, stating: “It was internal stuff that we disciplined him with.”)
Ultimately, it’s going to be a weird sight to see a new head basketball coach on the sideline for the Hawkeyes. In Fran McCaffery, Iowa hired a builder and he rebuilt a program from the ashes before petering out at the end. In McCollum, the Hawkeyes hired a winner. If he continues to do so, there are big things in store for the program.
Tonight: Robert Morris at Iowa, Carver-Hawkeye Arena, 7:30 PM, Big Ten Network
Friday, 11/7: Western Illinois at Iowa, Carver-Hawkeye Arena, 6:00 PM, BTN Plus
