Iowa State women's basketball freshman Audi Crooks earns starting spot for Cyclones
AMES - Iowa State freshman Audi Crooks played so well during the first four games of the season that coach Bill Fennelly inserted the post player into his starting lineup for the final game of the South Point Shootout in Las Vegas last week.
Crooks performed at a high level, so much so that Fennelly said the Iowa native will be back in the starting lineup for the second-straight game when the Cyclones (2-3) play at St. Thomas (3-3) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn.
“It was nothing except a performance-based thing for her,” Fennelly said. “She’s been doing really well.”
Crooks has been one of the brightest spots so far this season for Iowa State. The 6-foot-3 post player is averaging a team-high 16.8 points per game to go along with 4.4 rebounds per contest. It's the type of production the Cyclones were hoping to get from Crooks...eventually.
Crooks was one of the biggest recruits in Iowa State's highly decorated recruiting class. She was a two-time state champion at Bishop Garrigan in Algona and even poured in an all-class tournament record 49 points in the championship game of her senior season.
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Despite her stellar high school resume, Fennelly and his staff have tried to ease Crooks into things as the newcomer made the transition from small school high school basketball in Iowa to Big 12 Conference play. They brought her off the bench and leaned on veteran transfer Isnelle Natabou early on.
“The goal for a long time was kind of split it between the two and that’s kind of what we’ve done,” Fennelly said.
The hope was to make the adjustment as easy as possible for Crooks, who was not only going to be playing in longer games but against bigger and more experienced players. That could have been a daunting task for Crooks. But she has quickly emerged as a star that Fennelly can no longer keep on the bench.
Fennelly said he'll continue rotating Crooks and Natabou but will do it with a twist moving forward. Crooks will start and Natabou will come off the bench. The move came while the Cyclones were playing in Las Vegas. Crooks had just tallied 14 points and grabbed four rebounds during Iowa State’s loss to Vanderbilt.
Fennelly was pleased with Crooks' recent performances. So, Fennelly rewarded her by giving Crooks her first collegiate start the next day against Syracuse, an 81-69 loss for the Cyclones.
She responded with one of the best games of her young college career. Crooks matched her career-high with 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field. She also had four rebounds and two assists, becoming one of the biggest bright spots in Iowa State’s loss that night. It could be just a sign of things to come as Crooks gets more experience.
"Her conditioning is good and we're trying to build up her minutes," Fennelly said.
Fennelly still has high hopes for Natabou, who will continue playing an important role for the Cyclones, but off the bench for now. She provides the Cyclones with another option in the post along with some much-needed depth at the spot.
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“Nelly’s more of a runner, a rebounder and a defensive person,” he said. “Audi’s more of a scorer and doesn’t have the defensive skillset yet that Nelly has," Fennelly said.
Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018 and 2020 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State women's basketball freshman Audi Crooks earns starting spot
