Basketball is back in the state of Iowa. Both Iowa and Iowa State made it to the Sweet 16 and Iowa made it to the Elite 8 for the first time this century. There are plenty of NBA Draft prospects on those two teams, so let’s break them down.
Bennett Stirtz
Iowa Athletics
Bennett Stirtz started out at Northwest Missouri State where he played under Ben McCollum. He followed his coach to Drake last season, then to Iowa where, this season, he became one of the best PG’s in the country. Stirtz really got onto the scene at Drake last season where he helped lead the Bulldogs to 30 wins and a Tournament upset win against Missouri to make it to the Round of 32. Although they lost to Texas Tech, this marked their first Tournament win in modern NCAA Tournament history. This season, he helped lead Iowa to the Elite 8, including pulling off a major upset against #1 seed Florida and #4 seed Nebraska.
On Drives: 52/71 = 72.3%
On Layups: 80/116 = 69%
On Pullups: 18/29 = 62%
On Dunks: 9/9 = 100%
As you can see here, despite the fact that teams were trying hard to stop Stirtz this season, he was still really efficient. His efficiency around the rim is very good. The shooting volume was good. There’s a lot of colors, but pay attention to the volume. Didn’t shoot a ton from the corners but did take a lot at the top of the key and the rim.
This isn’t the most encouraging list, but a lot of these guys ended up measuring smaller than what Stirtz is. Obviously, the Stephen Curry mention will pop off the list. He’s obviously not Steph, but I also think he’s better than someone like Devin Carter, Jared Butler, or Kam Jones. Walter Clayton is a different type of player. However, as you can see, there's just not a great track record with this query. That being said, Stirtz turned the ball over less than anyone on this list. I think he’s a really smart floor general. I think he could end up being a starter, but I also don’t think he’s this star like some people see with him as an analytics darling.