Iowa's Bennett Stirtz Predicted to Land With Pistons After Elite Eight Showing

March Madness is all about cheering on your favorite college teams to victory, but for the players, it’s huge for their draft stock.

For Iowa point guard Bennett Stirtz, the NCAA tournament helped exponentially increase his draft stock, right when he needed it most.

Stirtz helped take his team to a surprise Elite Eight run, and while his shooting was a bit shaky at 35.8% from 3, he showed that he can perform under pressure, which is exactly the kind of skill players need in the NBA.

ESPN’s Jeremy Woo has unleashed his latest NBA mock draft, and in it, he has the Detroit Pistons selecting Stirtz with the No. 21 overall pick.

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“Detroit has a need for added shooting around Cade Cunningham and can go several directions at this spot,” he says in the piece. “Stirtz is capable of bolstering the second unit and also adding spacing playing off the Pistons’ various playmaking wings.”

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What Makes Bennett Stirtz Stand Out

It’s true that adding Stirtz to the Pistons for shooting around Cunningham will help in situations where the star player is having an off night, which has happened during Detroit’s 2026 playoff run.

Stirtz plays with maturity, partly because he’ll enter the NBA as a 23-year-old and has more experience than younger players. He’s also versatile and skilled on the court, a solid shooter and has consistency. Those are all traits that will take him far in the NBA. In fact, Stirtz is so strong that he would go higher in the draft projections if this wasn’t such a strong guard draft class.

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This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 1:46 PM.