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The “Shaquille O’Neal of Women’s Basketball” is Going Viral on Twitter

Published 04/15/2022, 9:00 AM EDT

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Audi Crooks is making a name in the world of women’s basketball and, although she’s just sixteen, she has a big future in this sport. In videos, she is dominating games on both ends of the floor which led to the clips becoming viral. She has even been called ” The Shaquille O’Neal of women’s basketball” by ‘Courtside Films‘, a website dedicated to college basketball.

The powerful center currently plays high school basketball and has been the subject of a scrap between the major colleges who want to secure her signature for 2023. Now, Crooks has finally committed to Iowa State Thursday in a ceremony at Bishop Garrigan High School. Crooks chose the Cyclones over her final five colleges.

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Crooks posted on Twitter about her choice. She mentions that she is glad that her academic and athletic career is continuing at Iowa State.

Audi Crooks has been dominating

She has been coveted since the summer of 2020 as the offers started to roll in. The 6’3 center had piled up over 15 offers. With her final five, Illinois State, Northern Iowa, UMKC, Missouri State, Maryland, Drake, Omaha, Michigan State, Kansas State, Mississippi State, and Penn State all were after Crooks.

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The youngster from Algona, Iowa averages around 23.2 points per game. She is shooting an incredible 72 percent from the field, along with 11.9 rebounds for her high school. With Crooks, the Golden Bears finished 25-3. In the final against MMCRU, Crooks had 15 points and 13 rebounds as her team won the final 52-49.

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Her consistency has earned her an All-Iowa elite team selection with many other rewards. ESPN’s HoopGurlz put her as the No. 58 overall prospect in the 2023 class. Prep Girls Hoops has Crooks ranked 42nd among all 2023 recruits.

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CY Select program director Ashley Adams said, “She has really embraced this attention and has handled it in a very humble fashion, especially the last six to nine months. She’s been getting a great deal of attention for almost two years now, but with social media and the internet and everything, it’s really heightened of late.”

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“But it’s been fun to kind of be alongside her through this journey and see how she’s reacted and handled everything.

Will Crooks be successful in her athletic dreams? Are we seeing “the new Shaquille O’Neal” in her? Only time can tell with her.

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Written by:

Aditya Kar

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Aditya Kar is an NBA writer for EssentiallySports. He has completed both his Bachelors and Masters in History from Jamia Millia Islamia. He has been a fan of the NBA since 2011.
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Edited by:

Arunaditya Aima