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Bennett Stirtz named to NABC Player of the Year Watch List

On3 imageby: Tom Kakert9 hours agoHawkeyeReport
Bennett Stirtz (1)
Bennett Stirtz is a preseason All American

University of Iowa senior Bennett Stirtz has been named to the 2026 National Association of Basketball Coaches Division I Player of the Year Preseason Watch List, it was announced Thursday by the NABC.

Stirtz was also selected as a preseason second-team All-American by the Field of 68 on Thursday morning.

It is Stirtz’s third preseason All-America nod, as he was also named a preseason All-American by both CBS Sports (second team) and the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook (fourth team).  The Liberty, Missouri, native is also on the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Watch List and is a preseason All-Big Ten selection by Blue Ribbon, USA Today Network and in a media vote by the league office.

Stirtz, who is in his first season as a Hawkeye, was an All-American by three outlets during the 2024-25 season at Drake.  He was also tabbed as the Missouri Valley Conference Larry Bird Player of the Year and Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year.

He led the MVC in scoring (19.2), steals (2.21) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.86), while ranking second in assists (5.7).  He also led the NCAA in minutes played, averaging 39:22 per game.

Stirtz is one of five players from the Big Ten Conference on the list, along with UCLA’s Donovan Dent, Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn and Braden Smith and Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg.

The 2026 NABC Division I Player of the Year will be selected by a nationwide vote of Division I head coaches at the conclusion of the regular season.  It will be announced the week of the 2026 Men’s Final Four.

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