PG Minutes under BM

PBezanson said:

I was curious as to whether the extreme # of minutes played by Stirtz per game was an anomaly for McCollum (bc Stirtz was so good) or part of his coaching philosophy. I assumed that it was the former, but I glanced at some historical data for minutes played by his pre-Iowa /pre-Stirtz point guards and it looked like more of a philosophy thing. I asked AI to do more thorough research for me and it agreed:

McCollum’s Coaching Trend: Do His PGs Consistently Play More?​

Looking back over Ben McCollum’s coaching career (roughly 2013–2026), a clear pattern emerges: the starting point guard on McCollum’s teams often plays virtually maximum minutes, often topping their league in this category. This appears to be an intentional part of McCollum’s philosophy and roster management. Key evidence includes:

• Division II (Northwest Missouri State, 2010s): McCollum’s D-II dynasty teams featured star point guards logging heavy minutes. For example, Justin Pitts, McCollum’s point guard 2014–2018, averaged 34–36 MPG during his peak seasons. In 2015–16, Pitts played 36.4 MPG over 32 games; in 2016–17, he averaged 35.2 MPG. His final season (2017–18) he still played 34.4 MPG. This was well above typical D2 starters – in 2017–18, Pitts’s 34.4 MPG was by far the most on his team and likely among the top in the conference. Notably, Trevor Hudgins (Pitts’s successor) also seldom left the floor: as a freshman on McCollum’s 38–0 national championship team in 2018–19, Hudgins started all 38 games, averaging 34.1 MPG, even playing all 40 minutes in multiple NCAA tournament games. Such heavy usage for point guards indicates a sustained approach at the D2 level. [basketball...realgm.com] [bearcatsports.com] [bearcatsports.com] [bearcatsports.com], [bearcatsports.com]
• Division I (Drake 2024–25 and Iowa 2025–26): Upon moving up to Division I, McCollum maintained this approach. In his one season at Drake (2024–25), he leaned on Bennett Stirtz – a transfer he brought from NW Missouri – to a remarkable degree: Stirtz led all of Division I with ~39.4 MPG at Drake (starting all 35 games). This was the highest average in D1 nationally during 2024–25 and well above the typical high-20s to low-30s MPG most MVC starting guards played. After McCollum became head coach at Iowa in 2025–26, he again gave Stirtz near-complete game time: 37.7 MPG over 37 starts, ranking him 5th nationally in minutes that year. [sports-reference.com] [sports-reference.com] [teamrankings.com]

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Interesting. I had actually wondered the same thing myself. I had assumed the minutes were uniquely tailored to Stirtz but obviously wasn’t sure.

Old-timers can correct me if I’m wrong, but I swear growing up older family members would talk about how Lute Olsen had a short bench and had his starters logging big minutes. Is that accurate ? If so, it seemed to work out pretty well.

I suppose when you’re 19 or 20 you have the stamina to play that many minutes. I never played past high school, but I remember hating getting pulled during normal substitution patterns because it disrupted my rhythm.

Anyway, I don’t necessarily think it’s a good or bad thing. Really depends on the individual player.

Can't find any stats that show minutes played, but the final four team, only 8 guys played more than half of the Big Ten games. I don't think anyone of those were doing 35 minutes per game though

Interesting data.

I assumed stirtz was a bit of a unicorn....maybe not.
Do we have a Pitts,Hudgkins,or Stirtz type guy in Coleman or Combes?

Clearly Ben hand-picked those guys out of HS while Coleman is a transfer( altho Ben did recruit him out of HS) so he probably does identify guys with traits that allow for big minutes.

It will be fun to watch him piece it together

Good coaches evolve and adapt and I hope BM can see that the Big Ten is much different from a mid major. Stirtz was noticeably tired down the stretch.

ObeseMuffins said:

Good coaches evolve and adapt and I hope BM can see that the Big Ten is much different from a mid major. Stirtz was noticeably tired down the stretch.

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Spot on. Stirtz and Ben had a long relationship going way back and both bet on this first Iowa team revolving around Stirtz and Bennett playing his usual 40 minutes. I agree that he did look tired down the stretch. Ben has more pieces to work with moving forward including a bevy of good shooting forwards and wings that he likes so much. The point guard will always play a vital role in his system but at this level very likely not the starter playing 40 minutes a game.

Titanhawk said:

Can't find any stats that show minutes played, but the final four team, only 8 guys played more than half of the Big Ten games. I don't think anyone of those were doing 35 minutes per game though

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I'd wager Kenny Arnold averaged 35+ after Lester's injury. Kevin Boyle may have as well.