Audi Crooks turned into one of the best women’s college basketball players in the nation during the 2025-26 season. This was her third season with the Iowa State Cyclones, and it will also be her last as she just entered the transfer portal this week.
Basketball is in her blood, with her father Jimmie Crooks playing as a teenager for Fort Dodge Senior High School. He would then go to play in college for Mankato State University and Southern Nazarene University. Jimmie Crooks passed away in 2021.
Her mother, Michelle Vitzthum, also played at the high school level at Bishop Garrigan, where she is one of the school’s leading all-time scorers. This is the same high school Crooks herself attended.
Another member of the family who is into the sport is her uncle Matt Vitzthu, who was recently named South Dakota’s men’s basketball head coach.
Crooks has opened up about how her family’s involvement in the sport has been a source of inspiration for her and how it drew her into basketball to begin with.
Audi Crooks’ Relationship With Her Father, Jimmie Crooks
During Iowa State’s debut in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Crooks scored 40 points against the Maryland Terrapins in an outstanding demonstration by a freshman. After the game, she was asked by the press about how she gets into the right headspace to achieve this kind of performance.
Audi Crooks admitted that it’s all down to being able to get into the right space spiritually, and connecting with her father’s legacy ahead of the game.
“Before every game, I just try to take a moment, and I pray, seeking guidance from my father,” she said.
She also pointed out how her father died when she was just 16 years old, in 2021, and it seemed clear that this was a defining event in her short life, as she broke down in tears. Crooks also added that she’s sure that her father is with her at all games and that he has the best seats in the court whenever she plays.
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