Joan Beringer Optimist

Eli Ellis had an up and down Freshman year at South Carolina and is now in the portal What level should the 6’1 scorer go to? (Via @dylan_lutey 🎥)

Sports fans can't agree on much anymore. But everyone is seemingly in agreement on this: Audi Crooks could legitimately beat some NBA players in a game of 1 on 1. She could easily beat at least 4 players on the Washington Wizards right now. And she's about to become the biggest basketball star on the planet. Here's why. Crooks just entered the transfer portal. One year of eligibility left. Every program in America is going to fight over her. The numbers this season: 25.8 points per game. 64.9% from the field. Second in the nation in scoring. She scored 47 against Indiana. 43 against Valparaiso. 41 against Kansas. 41 against Kansas State. She was the only player in the country with multiple 40-point games this season. Kevin Garnett watched her highlights and called it "old-school fundamentals mixed with new-age dominance." But here's the part most people don't know. Audi Crooks is from Algona, Iowa. Population 5,274. Her dad Jimmie was a 6-foot-8 basketball player who earned all-conference honors in high school and played in college. Her mom Michelle was one of the all-time leading scorers at Bishop Garrigan High School. They both wore number 55. Jimmie died on August 14, 2021. He was 55 years old. Audi was 16. She has worn number 55 at every level since. She has a tattoo on her right arm: the word "Pops," a halo, angel wings, and a Bible verse, Proverbs 3:6. Before every game, she prays and talks to her father. She says he has the best seat in the house. In high school, she scored 2,733 career points. She averaged 32.9 points on 75.2% shooting as a senior. She scored 49 points in the state championship game. Back-to-back state titles. She went viral playing AAU ball and earned the nickname "Lady Shaq." The full story of how a kid from a town of 5,000 in Iowa became the most dominant force in college basketball, and why every blue blood in the country is about to fight over her, is here: itsgame7.com/nba/audi-crook… Then she got to Iowa State. As a freshman, in her very first NCAA tournament game, Iowa State trailed Maryland by 20 points. Crooks scored 40 points on 18-of-20 shooting. Ninety percent from the field. Iowa State came back and won 93-86. She joined Bill Walton as the only player in NCAA Tournament history to score 40 or more on 90% shooting. She was 19 years old. Since she was 13, she has been body-shamed and criticized by people who have never come close to doing anything half as impressive as what she does on a basketball court every night. Her response: "Being strong is something that I'm proud of. Being big is something that I'm proud of." She doesn't argue. She doesn't fire back. She just scores 47 on you and walks off. Iowa State's season ended with a first-round NCAA tournament loss to Syracuse. She scored 37 in the loss. Her teammates entered the portal. The program fell apart. And now, she's available. UConn. South Carolina. LSU. Whoever lands Audi Crooks becomes an instant national championship favorite. She's 21 years old. She's from a town most people have never heard of. She carries her father's number on her back and his name on her arm. And she plays basketball like someone dropped a 1990s center into the modern game. One year left. The biggest transfer in women's basketball history. And she's just getting started.