From Division II to Iowa’s Elite Eight run, the coach-player bond drives Bennett Stirtz
HOUSTON (AP) — Two years ago, Iowa coach Ben McCollum was at Division II Northwest Missouri State and right there with him was current Hawkeyes star Bennett Stirtz. It’s been a whirlwind journey for the pair since then. And on Saturday night, they’ll have a chance to carry Iowa to its first Final Four since 1980 when the Hawkeyes meet No.
3 seed Illinois in the South Region final. “I don’t think either of us would be here without the other,” McCollum said Friday. “So now we’re in the Elite Eight and he’s gone further than he ever has, even at Division II, and hopefully he can keep going further.
” McCollum, who is in his first season at Iowa after one year at Drake, won four Division II national titles at Northwest Missouri State. Those came before Stirtz joined the team. Stirtz recalled meeting McCollum for the first time when the coach came to one of his practices when he was a junior in high school.
“He won three straight (national titles) before I got to meet him, so it was obviously pretty cool and I had no other offers,” he said. “So definitely in shock when I first saw him and, yeah, it’s been a crazy journey so far and hopefully keep it rolling. ” McCollum remembered Stirtz being homesick early in his career at Northwest Missouri State even though it was only a little over an hour from his hometown of Liberty, Missouri.
So, when he started getting interest from other schools, McCollum wanted Stirtz to follow him but was worried he’d say no because he wouldn’t want to stray far from home. “What happens if I go somewhere? What would you want to do?