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Women’s college basketball’s top transfer is staying in the Big 12.
Late Sunday night, Iowa State center Audi Crooks announced on social media that she is transferring to Oklahoma State, where she will have one year of eligibility remaining.
Crooks, who is 6-foot-3, was a Big 12 first-team selection her first three seasons and ranked second in Division I in scoring (25.8 points per game) and field goal percentage (64.9%) this past season.
The Iowa State standout was one of the most familiar faces in college basketball this past season and led the Cyclones to the NCAA tournament, where they lost to Syracuse in the first round.
But instead of joining a powerhouse such as Connecticut, Notre Dame, or South Carolina, Crooks is joining a program that fared only slightly better than the one she left.
“To think she will be in a Cowgirl uniform feels surreal,” OSU coach Jacie Hoyt said in a statement announcing Crooks’ transfer.
Crooks was one of 10 Iowa State players to enter the portal when it opened on April 6 and is joining a Cowgirls program that finished fourth in the Big 12, three spots ahead of ISU, and lost to eventual champion UCLA in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The Iowa native was reportedly seeking more than $500,000 in NIL money at her next destination, according to On3, which makes the Cowgirls a surprise landing spot.
Oklahoma State is an athletic program that isn’t considered to be flush with NIL money. In December 2024, longtime football coach Mike Gundy took a $1 million pay cut, with the money going towards NIL. He griped about the spending of programs such as Oregon in September, saying his program spent “around $7 million over the last three years,” compared to the Ducks, whose roster was reportedly worth $40 million. He was fired a few weeks after making those comments.
Somehow, the Cowgirls found a way to land Crooks and now have one season to maximize perhaps the most talented player the program has ever had.
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