AMES, Iowa — As the women's NCAA tournament approaches, Iowa State junior center Audi Crooks stands out as one of the most formidable players in the field. Averaging 25.5 points per game while shooting an impressive 64.7% from the field, Crooks has propelled the Cyclones through a challenging season, even as the team struggled late. She ranks second on Iowa State's all-time scoring list and has notched 30 or more points in eight games this year, including four performances exceeding 40 points. If Iowa State advances far, Crooks could dominate matchups with her size and skill.
Crooks' journey began in the small town of Algona, Iowa, population around 5,500, where she honed her game on a cramped driveway basketball court. There, under piles of snow marking out-of-bounds and a discarded shovel serving as the 3-point line, she battled her mother, Michelle Cook, a former high-scoring center at Bishop Garrigan High School. "We had a lot of bonding moments and arguments in the driveway," Cook said. "But it gave us something to do that we were in full control over. We were very competitive, and we had a lot of fun with it. No matter what time of year it was."
Those sessions taught Crooks how to use her 6-foot-3 frame effectively, maneuvering through contact and finishing gracefully. By middle school, she was dropping steps learned from her mom to score over her. "When I started beating her, she didn't want to play anymore," Crooks recalled. "Yeah, it's not as fun anymore," Cook admitted with a laugh. This early training built the foundation for Crooks' power and resilience, qualities that define her college play.
In Algona, Crooks remains a local hero. Middle school girls like Ashton Rummel, Alyshia Berte, and Addison Berte remember watching her dominate. Rummel saw Crooks score a record 49 points in the 2023 Class 1A state championship game, leading Bishop Garrigan to a 68-57 win and a second straight title when Rummel was in fourth grade. The Berte twins once approached Crooks for a photo at Cinco de Mayo, her favorite local spot, during their birthday dinner around age 11. "If you're in a small town, your options are kind of limited," Addison Berte said. "But she defied that and she did what she wanted to do with her life. And I think that's really cool."
On February 15, this group and their coach traveled two hours to Ames to watch Iowa State beat Kansas State at Hilton Coliseum, where 10,746 fans cheered Crooks' 20 points and nine rebounds. "She's gotten a lot better," Alyshia Berte noted. "She doesn't have a bad attitude on the court," Rummel added. "You always notice that about Audi. No matter what, she's always going to have a smile on her face and keep working." Crooks feels the support deeply: "It's like a tight-knit community, slash like family," she said. "Without a doubt, [Algona] has supported me in high school and throughout my college career so far. That's fun."
She visits Algona three or four times a year, and local businesses capitalize on her fame. At Threads, a clothing store, owner Tricia Garry dedicates a quarter of the space to an Audi Crooks display with Iowa State gear bearing her signature and No. 55. Orders spike after big games, with shipments going as far as France. "I can hardly go anywhere in Ames," Crooks said. "But I definitely can't go anywhere in Algona without somebody saying hey or stopping to chat."
Crooks' strength also draws from her late father, Jimmie Crooks, whom she called Pops. Living primarily with her mom, stepfather, and stepbrother in Algona, she traveled 40 miles south every other weekend to Fort Dodge to see him. Jimmie, a former high school and college basketball player who also wore No. 55, shared her passion for the sport. They bonded over Cy-Hawk rivalry games between Iowa State and Iowa, placing small bets like $5 or dishwashing duties while talking on the phone.
Beyond basketball, they connected through music and faith. After church, Audi played piano with him and later picked up guitar, drums, bass, and trumpet at his encouragement. Jimmie's health battles — a heart attack when Audi was 8, leg amputation due to diabetes, pneumonia hospitalization at her age 14 — tested their bond, but he never lost faith. He died in August 2021, when she was 16. "Changed my entire life, changed my world," Crooks said. "It was hard for me to play basketball again. I didn't know if I was going to play basketball again because it was so deeply rooted in him."
A tattoo on her right wrist reads "Pops" with angel wings and a halo, underneath "Proverbs 3:6." "In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path," Crooks explained. "I'm right-handed. So every basket that I shoot, he's with me."
She carries his spirit: "I watched him go through a lot of hard things, but never once did he lose his faith," she said. "He had every reason in the world to be angry, sad, mean. But he just showed his love for life and the talents that God gave him. And so I try to do the same thing."
Crooks' national profile exploded via a YouTube video dubbing her the "Shaquille O'Neal of girls' basketball" during her AAU days with the CY Select Wolves. Clips showed her blocking shots, laying in buckets, firing outlet passes, and helping opponents up. "I grew up watching the little Shaquille O'Neal Gold Bond commercials and seeing Shaq as like the idol ... that was super cool," she said. "So to be compared to an iconic center that was in the NBA was cool."
While most comments praised her footwork and potential, some fixated on her frame. "It was hard for me to process and kind of understand at that age that, like, those people are so far removed from what I'm doing, yet so heavily opinionated," Crooks reflected. "But I think over time I just kind of learned that, you know, I'm doing something right. To be on all these platforms and to have all these people taking time out of their day to say something good or bad, I must be doing something right." Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly saw her potential early, recruiting her relentlessly. She committed after her junior year state title, choosing Ames for the family-like staff and big crowds at Hilton Coliseum, nearly twice Algona's size.
High school doubters claimed her success stemmed from a small school, predicting struggles at college. "All through high school [people said] she was good because she played at a small school," Bishop Garrigan coach Brandon Schwab said. "Out of high school, everyone was saying that, 'Oh, her game won't translate to the college level.' And now look what she's doing. Anytime you're going to tell Audi she can't do something, it's going to ultramotivate her." Fennelly agreed: "We found quickly that that transition was not going to be as hard as most people thought."
Her freshman NCAA tournament debut proved it. Trailing Maryland by 20 in the first round on March 24, 2024, Crooks huddled at halftime down 16. Assistant coach Emily Hatfield challenged her: "Well, why don't you have 30? Like, why don't you just score 30?" Crooks replied, "I'll make it better, I'll score 40." She did exactly that, shooting 18-of-20 from the field, including 10-for-10 in the second half, with 12 rebounds in a seven-point Iowa State win. It set the NCAA freshman single-game tournament scoring record. The Cyclones fell to Stanford next, but Crooks emerged as a star.
As a sophomore, she averaged 23.4 points and 7.5 rebounds, but Iowa State lost in the First Four to Princeton before falling to Michigan in the first round. Social media praise for her dominance often mixes with body-shaming comments, calling her out of shape or questioning her defense. "Nobody can depreciate the numbers that I put up. Nobody can depreciate my play," she said. "So then they come after me personally, and it's like, that's not what I'm here for."
Crooks embraces her build: "Being strong is something that I'm proud of. Being big is something that I'm proud of," she said. "I'm not going to shy away from those things." Her family shares that stature — "My family, we've always been bigger, stronger people," she noted — and she views it as a tool. Negativity sometimes reaches her mom; Cook has faced questions about Crooks' diet or health, and heard a fan call her a "hog" and "pig" at a road game. "If I hear it, she's hearing it," Cook said. "Everybody's hearing it. And everybody knows it shouldn't be happening. ... It's not easy, and it hurts as a mom."
Crooks responds with grace, smiling through it. "I think she was listening when I was raising her, and I think she leans on her faith, and I'm glad that she has that," Cook said. "I always tell her, you have two choices, and the choice is up to you on how you respond. ... Not everybody's going to be your cheerleader. But as long as you're proud of yourself and your relationship with God is where it needs to be, then that's all that matters." Fennelly worries about the toll: "She deals with it a hell of a lot better than I do," he said. "She handles it with amazing grace, amazing maturity."
Teammates like senior forward Sydney Harris admire her positivity: "She's able to find the joy in anything," Harris said. "And that can be hard sometimes." Crooks finds solace in fishing with teammate Addy Brown at Ada Hayden Heritage Park, a shared hobby from their upbringings. Brown, from Derby, Kansas, and Crooks, who caught her first 20-inch catfish in Algona, use it to unwind. "It makes us both work on our patience," Brown said, laughing. "We usually don't catch a whole lot of fish when we're out there, but we have a good time just hanging out together and chatting."
"It's kind of a space to go to clear your mind," Crooks added. "The world is so busy. The lifestyle being a student-athlete is so busy and so hectic. To be able ..." As the tournament looms, Crooks' resilience, inherited from her parents and community, positions her to shine. Iowa State's path forward depends on her leadership, but her story already inspires beyond the court, challenging critics with every score.