Audi Crooks have found their basketball home.
The state’s top women’s basketball prospect of 2023 officially committed to Iowa State on Thursday in a ceremony at Bishop Garrigan High School, capping a high-end recruiting that has interested schools from all over the country. Crooks picked the Cyclones in the bottom five from Iowa, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Bishop Garrigan’s 6-foot-3 center has been a coveted recruiting piece for some time. The deals first launched in the summer of 2020 and haven’t stopped since. By the time Crooks narrowed her top five, she had racked up over 15 offers. With schools in its top five, Illinois State, Northern Iowa, UMKC, Missouri State, Maryland, Drake, Omaha, Michigan State, Kansas, Mississippi State, and Penn State were all after Crooks.
Success on the AAU Tour with CY Select paired well with a dominant junior season that saw Crooks possess enemies across the state. In leading Bishop Garrigan to a Class 1A title, Crooks averaged 23.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 72% from the field. With Crooks in charge, the Golden Bears finished 25-3 and captured the program’s first women’s basketball championship with a 52-49 win over MMCRU. Crooks had 15 points and 13 rebounds in the title game.
His consistency this season has earned Crooks an All-Iowa Elite Team selection, one of the many awards he has received. ESPN’s HoopGurlz places Crooks as the No. 58 overall prospect in the class of 2023. Prep Girls Hoops has Crooks ranked 42nd among all 2023 rookies.
“She’s really captured that attention and handled it in a very humble way, especially over the last six to nine months,” said CY Select Program Director Ashley Adams. told the Register earlier this year. “She’s been getting a lot of attention for almost two years now, but with social media and the internet and everything, it’s really intensified lately. But it’s been fun to be with her on this journey. and see how she reacted and handled everything.
“She really took it in stride and was able to rise to the challenge and accept that challenge to keep pushing to be awesome while still being humble. She’s one of the most humble teenagers I’ve ever had. encountered.”
Dargan Southard covers Iowa and UNI athletics, recruiting and preparations for the Des Moines Register, HawkCentral.com and the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.
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