Iowa State’s All-American Audi Crooks is entering the transfer portal, she announces on social media.
In a statement via Instagram, Crooks explained, “I still believe the grass is greener where you water it, and I’ve done that here. It’s why I want you to hear from me directly that I have decided to enter the portal and explore what it means to take root again in new ground.”
Crooks was the nation’s second-leading scorer as a junior at 25.8 points per game.
In just three years, Crooks was already the school’s second all-time leading scorer with 2,256 points, just about 800 points behind Ashley Joens.
She makes 10 Cyclones in the portal, leaving Arianna Jackson and Evangelina Paulk as the players from the 2025-26 team that will be on next year’s team. Addy Brown, Jada Williams and Kenzie Hare are among the other starters entering the portal when it opens on April 6.
With massive turnover for the second time in four years, what does that mean for longtime coach Bill Fennelly? Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard shares:
“One of the many traits I really appreciate about Coach Fennelly is his resiliency. There’s a quote. ‘It’s not what happens to you, but it’s how you respond to what happens to you.’ Coach Fennelly has shown time after time that he can live that quote. Coach, Fennelly, wants to be able to finish what he started, and to finish it the right way. He has been loyal to our program for the last 31 years. He could have entered the transfer portal at any time during that time period, and he chose to stay at Iowa State to the point he’s now the all time winningest coach in the history of Iowa State, and also the all time winningest coach in the history of the big 12. We love winning at Iowa State, and we’ve been blessed to have won a lot of women’s basketball games. However, I continually hear from our donors, from our ticket holders and our fans, that although winning is important and winning is fun, it’s how we win and how we treat people that really matters. That’s why we’ve chosen to continue to support coach Fennelly’s desire to finish what he started the right way. His loyalty and his success has earned him the opportunity to finish his career the right way. I encourage our fans, despite any disappointment any of us have over the transfer portal, to continue to show our support and our love for our women’s basketball program, for our coaching staff and for any student athletes that are continue to wear the cardinal and gold in the future.”
You can watch Pollard’s full six-minute statement here.
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