Recruiting Report: Garrett Sturtz (2018)
Perhaps the state’s most intriguing prospect, Newton’s 6-foot-3 point guard Garrett Sturtz has a lot of programs interested in his recruitment, and we caught up with him recently to talk about just that.
A slew of D2 programs have been coming in hard on the lengthy and versatile senior. And a couple Division I schools have been getting into the mix, too.
“Right now, the schools that have started talking to me are; Minnesota State-Mankato, I still have the one in San Diego, Point Loma, we still keep in touch, and a recent one is I’ve been talking to Drake, I’ve been talking to Ali Farokhmanesh from there,” said Sturtz.
“Other ones are Bemidji State and Rockhurst. And Albany in New York has been talking to me, they reached out a couple weeks ago.”
He added: “Still no offers, there’s schools that have basically offered, but they want a full-on commit, saying that I’m going there.”
Iowa’s 8th-ranked 2018, Sturtz has made huge jumps in each of the last two installments of 2018 rankings. Whether it was with Newton last winter or Iowa Intensity in the spring, the skilled and deliberate guard was always dominant.
And as his reputation continues to grow, he’ll look to his senior season with the Cardinals to pick up some late interest and offers.
“I’m probably going to play out the season, and see what other schools come in. And probably take a couple weeks after the season and narrow my options down and make a decision then,” said Sturtz. “I just want to be open up to the last minute, and then just make a good decision.”
With Iowa Intensity this spring and then the Iowa Barnstormers this summer, Sturtz – who already had one of the more complete skill-sets in Iowa — says he’s worked to improve his jumper more than anything else.
“I’ve become more of a better overall scorer. I’ve worked on my jumper a lot and that’s definitely helped me out a lot. And I’ve gotten more poised,” said Sturtz, who mentioned his defense may be a bit underrated.
“I think people overlook defense with me. They know I’m long, but I don’t think people see how much I block shots or the effect I have disrupting passing lanes.”
Sturtz’s defense really shined when he played with one for the nation’s best 17U teams, Iowa Barnstormers, this summer.
For the first time in awhile, he wasn’t asked to be the team’s main scorer, but was instead expected to play solid defense, and contribute when needed offensively.
“It was a great opportunity to play with the Barnstormers, and I’m thankful to them for giving me that opportunity. It’s fun to play with top players like that, like (Joe) Wieskamp and AJ (Green), and just learn from them. And the thing I realized playing with them is that there’s no games off, and that brings out the best player in you,” said Sturtz.
“It was just fun to play with players that were passionate and loved the game as much as I do, and being able to form a relationship with those guys. So I was thankful for that experience this summer.”
After averaging 19.8 points, 2.8 assists, 2.0 steals and 6.3 rebounds per game last season as a junior while Newton to state, Sturtz says his role this season will be to better those assists numbers.
“I think my role this year will be to facilitate a little more. I’m definitely going to have to score, but there will be times when defenses are keying on me, and scoring might not be my role that game,” he said.
“We got some young guys that can really shoot the ball, so me getting them the ball will help us out in the long run.”