Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz considered entering the NBA Draft before deciding to follow Ben McCollum to Iowa. Stirtz was the Missouri Valley Conference Player-of-the-Year after leading Drake to a school record 31 wins and a second round appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the lone season with McCollum as head coach.

Stirtz says there was actually a point where he thought he would enter the draft.

His focus now is helping the Iowa program get back to the NCAA Tournament.

Stirtz is expected to be the leader of a team that has only one scholarship player returning and he is working on become more of a vocal leader.

Iowa coach Ben McCollum believes Stirtz has a future in the NBA.

McColllum believes Stirtz has a game that translates to the next level.

McCollum calls Stirtz a late bloomer. He began his college career at Northwest Missouri State before following McCollum to Drake.