KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Oklahoma State Cowgirls landed the best player in the transfer portal in Audi Crooks. One Big 12 team is quite familiar with her.
Crooks played three seasons for the Iowa State Cyclones under head coach Bill Fennelly, who announced a few weeks ago that he was retiring after the end of the season. He is the longest-tenured Big 12 women’s coach and has won 656 games at Iowa State, the majority of his 822 head-coaching wins.
Crooks was part of a transfer portal exodus from the program. Her teammate, Addy Brown, landed at defending champion UCLA.
But she remained in the Big 12. And, because of that, she’ll face her former team — twice.
OSU won’t be at Big 12 Media Days until Wednesday, but Iowa State and Fennelly were at T-Mobile Center on Tuesday to talk about the upcoming season. Crooks’ name came up, as one expected it might.
Bill Fennelly on Audi Crooks Coming Back to ISU
It’s going to be a while before Iowa State fans see Crooks in person at Hilton Coliseum. The game is set for Jan. 9 and due to Crooks and it being her return to ISU, the game will be carried on a national network.
Fennelly was asked what sort of reception he expected when she returned with the Cowgirls. He said he’s not sure.
“I can’t control the reception,” Fennelly said. “I don’t know what it’s going to be. It’ll be mixed, probably.”
Fennelly coached the Angola, Iowa, native for three seasons and recruited her out of high school. She left the program as its second all-time leading scorer behind only Ashley Joens. She headlines the No. 1 transfer portal class in the country with the Cowgirls.
“She played three really good years, and she added a lot to our team,” Fennelly said. “She’s part of a really good team now.”
Crooks was one of the most well-liked players at Iowa State in recent memory. She’s already made inroads with the Oklahoma State fan base. For three years the homecourt advantage at Hilton Coliseum — which is regularly among the Top 25 in women’s attendance in college basketball — was in her favor.
On Jan. 9, it won’t be. She’ll be in hostile territory for the first time in her college career when she heads to Ames. Fennelly isn’t sure how it will go. But he knows he has a game to try and win.
“That’s the world we are in with college sports. There’s a lot of people that have played for multiple teams. It won’t be fun — I’m not gonna lie to you about that,” Fennelly said. “I don’t dictate the schedule. On Jan. 9 they’ll be in our building, and we’ll try to do the best we can.”
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