It’s been a life-altering summer for Bennett Stirtz. In June, he officially beat the odds and joined the NBA. The Oklahoma City Thunder selected him with the No. 16 pick of the 2026 NBA draft. And in August, he married his girlfriend — Taygen Stirtz.
She took to Instagram to announce their recent wedding. Stirtz will have a couple of more months to enjoy the NBA offseason. The Thunder should start 2026-27 training camp in late September. OKC will announce its regular-season schedule next week.
Cool to see Stirtz accomplish a couple of huge life goals this summer. The Thunder added him with the hopes that he can contribute from the jump. They spent the offseason making cost-cutting moves. With Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins all gone, there’s suddenly a vacuum of minutes and possessions up for grabs.
Stirtz showed off his outside jumper and ball-handling abilities at NBA Summer League last month. Expect him to be a fixture in OKC’s rotation early. Of all their recent draft picks from the last two years, most think he has the best shot to produce early on.
It’s been quite the journey for Stirtz to reach this point. He started his collegiate career at the D-II level at Northwest Missouri State. He was there for two seasons. He then transferred to Drake for his junior season. And finally, he went to Iowa in his senior season. That’s where he became a potential draft pick. And eventually played his way into the lottery range.
Bennett Stirtz got married pic.twitter.com/fnWCXJlvJ0
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) August 3, 2026
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Ahead of NBA debut, Bennett Stirtz gets married during offseason
