I suspect Audi Crooks is getting more money to attend and play basketball at Oklahoma State than the star post player would have received for returning to Iowa State. I presume that’s the situation, although without seeing an actual contract, we’ll just have to accept what some (allegedly) in-the-know websites are saying is true.

Could that be a factor in lateral transfers for a senior season, leaving fans who adored you since enrolling as a freshman (like Iowa State)? Does money weigh down the plus side in leaving a place where, sometime in the future, you could have returned to see your jersey hanging in a fan-packed college arena (like Hilton Coliseum), alongside other former stars?

If I’m right, then so be it. Good for Crooks, one of the best under-the-basket scorers and most engaging fan favorites throughout women’s college basketball.

Go get your bank.

Fans who cheered the short, defenseless bank shot that always gently dropped through the net — they’d do it, too, if faced with that type of financial opportunity. A lot of them, at least.

And if I’m right, then this illustrates something we knew would happen. Above-average programs can become waaaaay above average if they’ve got donors willing and able to throw oodles of money to purchase winning rosters. Texas Tech proved it in football. And BYU, too.

Now this: It’s happening in women’s sports, as well. Texas Tech and Texas softball reportedly have high-dollar pitchers.

And in women’s basketball, don’t blink, because the financial windfall some programs are enjoying is evolving more and more every day.

Oklahoma State, whose 24-10 women’s team averaged a whopping 3,309 fans last season at 13,600-seat Gallagher-Iba Arena, looks to be riding that wave, with the addition of Crooks and a handful of long-range shooters from the portal.

The word “surreal” even topped a story in The Oklahoman, one of the nation’s finest daily newspapers, about Crooks’ transfer. The word came from a quote by Oklahoma State women’s coach Jacie Hoyt upon hearing the news.

Surreal, indeed, but get used to it. The more high-level women’s basketball players who enter the transfer portal, the more they’ll financially influence the sport.

Mlive.com reported that a University of Michigan athletics department administrative employee even sent an email to women’s basketball supporters that read:

“Our team urgently needs $100,000 in Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) funding … to retain our elite talent at Michigan. Every contribution, no matter the amount, will significantly help us chip away at our funding gap.”

Right before our eyes, sometimes even in the black and white of an email plea for cash, serious NIL money is entering all levels of women’s college basketball. Not just the traditional powers.

Would Crooks have stayed if, let’s say, $1.4 million was on the table at Iowa State, whose home average of 9,985 was 4,000 a game better than anyone else in the Big 12?

No clue, but this much appears certain:

Someone appears to be throwing money at an Oklahoma State program whose total expenses were $3 million more than the program’s revenue during the 2024 fiscal year, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Equity in Athletics Data Analysis.

No one’s saying it’s wrong for money to be a factor in transferring.

For a long time, athletes deserved compensation, but let’s not kid ourselves. The financially unlevel playing field in college football, and to a certain extent men’s basketball, is making its way to women’s basketball.

Again, that’s not necessarily a bad thing — especially if you’re the one going to the bank. If you’re a school without an ultra, major-type moneybags or multiple well-heeled people willing to help coaches purchase their rosters, winning must be accomplished in other ways.

Recruit the best players you can recruit. Roll up your sleeves. Coach the heck out of them. Stay injury-free …

And hope for the best.

(Columnist Randy Peterson, a past Iowa Sportswriter of the Year winner, can be reached at randypete4846@gmail.com or at any Okoboji-area beverage/food establishment between the hours of open and close.)

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