The Iowa University star, nicknamed Lady Shaq, responds to weight criticism by dominating on the court with unreal numbers. And he doesn’t forget his mother’s advice: “Try to kill them with kindness, so you don’t give them ammunition to fight back. Do I only sign from below? Well, it works…”
As soon as she was born she weighed 4.5 kilos and was 71 centimetres: extra size for one very normal girl. And then enough with these appearances, Audi Crooks doesn’t want to deceive anyone. “The things that are constant in your life, the things that bring you joy and positivity, the things that you excel at and are working on, these are the things that should shape you. Not the others.” The center of Iowa University is much more than an image to be commented on. Talent, audacity, lightness. It’s the world we like. And Audi Crooks isn’t just building it with baskets. Of course, those count. Two days ago he finished the match against Kansas with 41 points (in 30′), equaling the record for the highest number of points scored in a regular season game in the Big 12. It hadn’t happened since 1984. Not bad. For Crooks, it is the fourth consecutive game with at least 30 points scored, she is the fifth player in the last 15 years to do so in women’s college basketball.
old school and new generation
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Crooks is also the only player with multiple 40-point games this season (3). Well, do you want to know something? They managed to criticize her for this too. “Sometimes they say all I do is score easy points under the basket,” he told The Gazette in 2023. “I say this with the utmost humility: It works.” She is 20 years old, 191 meters tall, weighs almost 100 kilos. They call her Lady Shaq, not exactly a praise to imagination. Audi Crooks is more than a male comparison. In fact, Kevin Garnett, who was O’Neal’s teammate in the Boston Celtics, spoke of “old school fundamentals combined with new generation dominance” to describe her. Here is the new generation: we hadn’t brought it up yet. It is the one that is trying to overthrow the system, to escape the logic of competition at all costs. The same generation that is trying to rewrite the logic of sharing. Even the virtual one. “The first time ESPN published a post about me, I was in seventh or eighth grade and still underdeveloped. Being 13 and seeing adults talk about you and your body more than your game is crazy. It was too much, impossible to handle.” The haters have arrived, those who scream in silence, animated by their worst side. Everyone talking about Audi’s body. “No one is prepared for something like this.” The family is her refuge, her teammates are therapy. She has never forgotten the advice her mother gave her: “Just try to kill them with kindness, because that way you won’t give them ammunition to fight back.”
also a musician
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He plays five instruments, spends himself for others, studies for a better world. He participated in a jazz club and played trumpet in the school band. He played drums in church, while practicing shot put and volleyball. At just 15 years old, her name began to become popular in the basketball world and the best American universities tried to recruit her. On the advice of his uncle, football coach Matt Vitzthum, Crooks chose Iowa, where he is currently pursuing degrees in criminal justice and sociology. “I chose Iowa State because it made me feel loved as a person, not just for what I do on a basketball court,” she said. During the recruiting period, coach Bill Fennelly and his staff worked hard to make her feel supported: from dinner at her favorite restaurant, Cinco De Mayo, a Mexican joint in Algona, to sending a photo of her future locker. They even defended her from criticism, including the night Crooks led her high school team to the state title. And when a disgruntled fan questioned Audi’s ability to play at the next level in college, Fennelly remembers responding in kind. “We’re not recruiting someone to sit on the bench,” he said, according to the Des Moines Register.
predisposition for success
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Braids, a natural predisposition for success. As a child she also won in other sports: where do we put three state titles in the shot put? And if even this isn’t enough for you, then here’s a bit of healthy humility. “Coming off the bench, you can see the game before you come in, and I think that gave me a little advantage. You can see what they’re doing defensively and adapt,” he said. On TV they wasted no time and immediately analyzed it. But there is also someone who had lateral thinking, different from the crowd. Rebecca Lobo, for example, said the year she was recruited to the University of Iowa, “In a way, you’re fascinated by her because you almost never see a player with her size, who moves like her, who has her feet and her hands. She’s effective at using her size and embracing her physicality.”
love for the father
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His father, Jimmie Crooks, was a star at Fort Dodge Senior High School before playing college basketball at Mankato State and Southern Nazarene. Crooks visited him every weekend in Fort Dodge until his death in 2021. And then she got a tattoo on her arm. The word “Pops” written in black ink along with a halo, wings and one of his father’s favorite Bible verses, Proverbs 3:6: “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” “It’s just a constant reminder, even though my dad isn’t here physically, I know he’s here spiritually,” Crooks said. “I can feel his presence.” Crooks finds himself looking at the tattoo all the time: in class, at home, during pre-games. He caresses it with a finger. His mother, Michelle Vitzthum, is one of the all-time leading scorers for the Bishop Garrigan basketball team. Crooks grew up playing basketball against her mother by spiking a basket in their driveway in Algona and honors both of her parents by wearing their No. 55 jersey. Jimmie had had several heart attacks and lost much of his vision. He was on dialysis every day for his kidneys, his leg had been amputated and he was confined to a wheelchair. Audi cooked for him, helped him walk and took him to the supermarket to do his shopping. Jimmi also played drums when he was in college. And he sang. Audi recalled: “I liked everything he liked.”
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