KANSAS CITY — Jacie Hoyt has always been someone who has taken big swings in recruiting.
Six years ago, before she became the head coach of the Oklahoma State Cowgirls, Hoyt was leading the Missouri-Kansas City and coming off a regular-season championship in the WAC. Hoyt had 6-foot-3 forward from Algona, Iowa — a city of less than 6,000 people — on her recruiting radar.
After studying her game, Hoyt called that player and offered her a scholarship — the third program to do so. Within the next few months, the Power 4 offers started piling in. Eventually, ranked as a four-star recruit by ESPN, she was tabbed as the 57th best prospect in the class of 2023.
Hoyt never did, but those talent evaluators underestimated Audi Crooks.
“We went back and laughed
about when she posted (our) offer on Twitter,” Hoyt told USA TODAY Sports at Big 12 media day. “She was way above our level at the time, but still nice enough to take the call.”
Over the last three seasons at Iowa State, Crooks has established herself as one of the most efficient inside scorers in the nation, powering through opponents on her way to a layup, shrugging defenders off with nimble moves, artfully dancing around them or goading players into fouling her. Her career field goal percentage of 61.1% is fifth all-time in the history of Big 12 women’s basketball.
When Crooks declared on the eve of the Final Four in April she would be transferring, she immediately became the best player available. Hoyt was suddenly presented with the opportunity to coach a player she had long admired.
As it turned out, Oklahoma State fit many of the criteria Crooks was seeking, and 17 days after she entered the portal, she committed to the Cowgirls.
“I was looking for a team that had other players that could contribute significantly, and I was looking to be pushed,” Crooks told USA TODAY Sports. “You know, considering that this could be my last year, what does that look like in the pros for me?”
Crooks became the headlining player on arguably the best transfer class of the offseason, one that has elevated Oklahoma State to contending status in the eyes of many. The Cowgirls were picked as the No. 1 team in the Big 12 preseason poll and, on paper, have the talent to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
For all of her accomplishments at Iowa State, where she was second in the nation in scoring last season, Crooks has never played in the second weekend of March Madness.
“Same for me,” Hoyt said. “So, we're just trying to take that next step together.”
How Oklahoma State built through the transfer portal
By the measure of most programs, Oklahoma State’s 2025-26 season would be considered a success. The Cowgirls won 24 games and had back-to-back 20-win season for the first time in a decade. They won 12 games in the Big 12, reached as high as 18th in the national rankings and won their NCAA Tournament opener against Princeton before being eliminated by eventual national champion UCLA.
Hoyt, however, wanted more.
Before March Madness began, she was thinking about the future during the layover between the Big 12 Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. During that week, she talked with every player on the roster and prepared herself for what was to come. It was then Hoyt realized she was going to have to hit the transfer portal hard.
“I just felt like it was important to go ahead and have some conversations with players. The portal can really catch you off guard and I didn't want to be blindsided,” Hoyt said. “When that last buzzer went off, it was time to turn the page and start working on next year's roster. It didn't necessarily feel good in the moment, but it definitely allowed us to look forward.”
In today’s college basketball ecosystem, coaches need money to shop the portal. Hoyt made sure she was financially secure to push Oklahoma State to the next level.
“We did some things strategically with our rev share that we felt we could push forward to this season,” Hoyt said. “And just to be able to have conversations with donors, and we had one donor in particular who was just really invested and passionate about helping us. We felt like we were in a really good place when that portal opened.”
Nine Cowgirls entered the transfer portal. Hoyt didn’t waste any time in reloading the roster, quickly securing commitments from All-SEC guard Liv McGill (Florida), 3-point sharpshooter Ellie Brueggemann (Lindenwood) and versatile forward Nènè Ndiaye (Rutgers). Eventually — capping the class in August with fifth-year guard Callin Hake from Nebraska — Hoyt would add nine transfers e lone returning starter, All-Big 12 selection Stailee Heard.
But the crown jewel of the additions was Crooks.
Since 2009, the year the analytics site HerHoopStats began logging college data, the only two players in the country to average at least 25 points per game while shooting at least 64% from the floor in a single season are Crooks and Megan Gustafson, who was the National Player of the Year at Iowa in 2019 and now plays for the Portland Fire.
“She’s a force inside, and she’s just a great person,” McGill said of Crooks. “We're going to showcase some good basketball.”
How Audi Crooks landed at Oklahoma State
Crooks took her time evaluating her options in the transfer portal, considering a handful of major programs.
When she visited Oklahoma State, Crooks and Hoyt discussed how the pairing could be mutually beneficial. Hoyt needed a player the Cowgirls could turn to in their half-court offense, someone whocould consistently score whenever the ball touched their hands. Crooks wanted to strengthen her ability as a full-court player, get better on defense, improve her conditioning and be used in a fast-paced offense.
“We could kind of help each other out and meet in the middle there,” Crooks said.
Playing in the Big 12, Crooks had seen Hoyt’s teams up close. The Cowgirls beat Iowa State twice last season, winning both meetings by double figures.
“They were fast (last season)," Crooks said "The bigs were really involved in actions, and I also think that they didn't run a ton of sets. They kind of went off their personnel, which I think really says something — like, you trust your players if you're willing to just let them step up to bat.”
In three of the last four seasons, Oklahoma State has ranked inside the top 30 in scoring. Last year, the Cowgirls were eighth in points per 100 possessions, 18th in offensive rating, 12th in points per play, 13th in effective field goal percentage and 11th in 3-pointers made. Crooks believes the Cowgirls’ style “absolutely” fits her skill set.
And indeed, Oklahoma State was already building a roster armed with superbly talented players at key positions before Crooks jumped onboard.
“Liv at the point — she's so fast and she's able to get us in our positions, and she can get downhill at the drop of a hat,” Crooks said. “And then Stailee, she’s just Miss Do-It-All. She can shoot, score, push the pace, and she can get big too.”
The task for Hoyt will be finding a balance of sticking to the scheme that has made Oklahoma State one of the top offenses in the nation while allowing Crooks to be Crooks. While all the names on the roster might pop off the page, it’s up to her to make all the pieces fit together.
“It's really been this kind of perfect marriage of helping each other. She's pushing me right now as a coach to figure things out with a post presence like she has. And then I'm challenging her, knowing that she wants to play at the next level,” Hoyt said. “We're both just so hungry and eager to get better.”
Money not a motivation for Audi Crooks
In the weeks following Crooks’ commitment to Oklahoma State, rumors swirled on social media about how much she was getting paid. It’s no secret programs have to spend to feature talented players. But there’s no way to confirm how much individual players are making.
When an anonymous account on X said Crooks was earning $1.4 million, it raised some eyebrows. Other news outlets picked up the story and ran with it, circulating the unconfirmed number. Hoyt threw cold water on the so-called report, calling it “fake news” before flat out saying it was “not true.”
Untrue or not, the implication was Crooks went into the portal looking for a big payday and would play for the highest bidder. Money, Crooks said, was her motivation.
“We didn't talk about figures at all on my visit. Not once did (Hoyt) and I discuss any of that. I came to Oklahoma State because I believed in her vision,” Crooks said. “She's kicked my butt for the last three years, so it was like, ‘OK, she's doing something right here.’ And I just feel like the style of play was really fitting for me and what my goals for the future are.”
Throughout her rise to stardom at Iowa State — where she accumulated nearly 200,000 followers on social media — Crooks has learned how to tune out the haters, naysayers and doubters. Or, as she calls them, the “couch critics.”
“Couch critics only have as much access as you allow them to, right? There's rooms that we sit in every day that they'll never be able to touch,” Crooks said. “I think it's just learning how to moderate — turn off the phone, turn off the social media, limit comments. Don't look, because if you go and look for couch critics, you're going to find a ton of them.”
What does the future hold for Audi Crooks?
The biggest question for Crooks now — like every other player in her class — is if she’s going to play a fifth season of college basketball.
In June, the NCAA changed its longstanding eligibility structure to an age-based model, commonly referred to as the five-in-five rule. Beginning with the day a student-athlete enrolls or their 19th birthday, whichever comes first, current and future college athletes will have five years to play five seasons of their sport.
The prospect of playing another season has been on Crooks’ mind, but she hasn’t reached a decision.
“I have thought about it,” Crooks said. “Honestly, I’m not even sure what I'm going to do. A lot of it rides on this year, how it goes, how I feel at the end of the season. I think that'll determine my future steps.”
The upcoming season is at the forefront for Crooks. Perhaps the most high-profile game on the Cowgirls’ slate this season is on Dec. 6, when they travel to Columbia, South Carolina, to face Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks in front of a national TV audience on ABC.
“I'm thrilled for that game,” Crooks said. “I mean, they're No. 1. They're going to be a tough opponent, and I think we're going to have a lot to take from that game. We're excited to just go and compete. You know, roll the ball out, let's go.”
Beyond that, Crooks wants to do everything in her power to ensure the Cowgirls have a long dance in March. Oklahoma State has never made the Elite Eight, and last went to the Sweet 16 in 2014.
“That's every basketball player's dream, right? Survive and advance,” Crooks said. “I'd definitely like to make it past the first couple of rounds.”
After recruiting her in 2020, Hoyt and the Cowgirls are focused on how far Crooks can take them.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Audi Crooks had plenty of options. Why Oklahoma State was the right fit
