Stirtz following McCollum to Iowa
MBB: The Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year is headed to the Big Ten
For the second season in a row, the Missouri Valley Conference’s Player of the Year is moving to a bigger conference.
Last year, Drake’s Tucker DeVries followed his dad, Darian, who took the head coaching job at West Virginia. This year, Drake’s Bennett Stirtz is following his head coach, Ben McCollum, who is the new head coach at Iowa.
Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman reported the move early on Tuesday.
Stirtz won the Larry Bird Trophy this year, given to the Missouri Valley Conference’s best player. He averaged 19.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game. Stirtz led Drake to a regular season conference championship, a Missouri Valley Tournament title, and a win over Missouri in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
As of this moment, only four of the 16 2024-25 All-Conference players, either due to graduating or entering the transfer portal, can still return next year — with Illinois State’s Chase Walker being the only to confirm he’s coming back. The transfer portal is currently open until Tuesday, April 22nd.
FIRST TEAM
Tytan Anderson — UNI (Senior)Duke Deen — Bradley (Senior)Jonathan Pierre — Belmont (Senior)Bennett Stirtz — Drake (Junior/Transfer Portal)Samage Teel — Indiana State (Senior)Chase Walker — Illinois State (Sophomore — WILL RETURN)
SECOND TEAM
Tayshawn Comer — Evansville (Junior/Transfer Portal)Kennard Davis — Southern Illinois (Sophomore/Transfer Portal)Darius Hannah — Bradley (Senior)Johnny Kinziger — Illinois State (Sophomore)
Cooper Schwieger — Valparaiso (Sophomore/Transfer Portal)
THIRD TEAM
Trey Campbell — UNI (Junior)
Ali Dibba — Southern Illinois (Junior)
Mitch Mascari — Drake (Senior)Zek Montgomery — Bradley (Senior)Carter Whitt — Belmont (Senior)