Audi Crooks: The Best NCAA Player You Never Heard Of

While the college basketball world obsesses over the usual suspects, there's a 6'3" forward in Ames, Iowa, putting up numbers that would make anyone do a double-take. Audi Crooks isn't just good; she's leading all of Division I basketball in scoring. Yes, you read that right. Men's and women's basketball combined.

So why does she get less buzz than freshmen phenoms like AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, or Darryn Peterson? Why do established stars like Azzi Fudd, Flau'jae Johnson, Sarah Strong, and Lauren Betts dominate the headlines while Crooks puts up historic numbers with very little national attention? 

Part of it is the usual culprits. Iowa State isn't UConn, LSU, or UCLA, programs that manufacture media narratives, and the other part is simply that women’s basketball at any level falls far behind the men’s game. Then there is the fact that most post players have always gotten less love than guards, who often have highlight packages full of deep threes and no-look passes, compared to drop steps and rebounds (unless, of course, you are capable of rim-rattling dunks).

However, this isn’t just a breakthrough season for Crooks; she’s been doing it ever since she stepped on campus in 2023⁠–24. Unfortunately for the freshman (who averaged 19.2 points and 7.8 rebounds), just down the road at Iowa (and across the nation for that matter), the national conversation centered around Iowa Hawkeyes great Caitlin Clark, who was having her farewell tour across the country, making SportsCenter clips basically each time she touched the hardwood.

But there's something deeper at play. Players on blue-blood programs or with major NIL deals and social media followings get covered differently. They're part of a hype machine that feeds on itself through recruiting rankings, brand partnerships, and tournament pedigree. If you're not part of that machine, even leading the entire country in scoring can leave you on the outside looking in.

Here's what makes this absurd: Crooks, who improved her points per game average to 23.4 in her sophomore season and is currently dropping 29.1 per night, isn't just volume scoring. She's dominating with footwork, touch, and basketball IQ that make her nearly unguardable. Defenders bounce off her. Double teams barely slow her down. She finishes with a softness that makes impossible shots look easy. Add in 6.7 boards and just short of 2 assists and a block per game, and the Cyclones have a player who contributes at an elite level on both ends of the court. 

Currently ranked 11th, the 14⁠–1 Cyclones are looking to make up for an early NCAA Tournament departure last season when they lost in the second round. If Iowa State makes a deep March run, Crooks will finally get her moment. But honestly? She shouldn't have to wait that long.