Iowa
Basketball legend Rebecca Lobo raves about Iowa State star Audi Crooks
Iowa State’s Audi Crooks dedicates made free throw to her late father
Iowa State star Audi Crooks connected on a free throw for her dad late in her team’s win over Iowa.
AMES – As ESPN women’s basketball analyst and Hall of Famer Rebecca Lobo watched the Iowa State women’s basketball shootaround prior to the team’s Dec. 10 game against the Iowa Hawkeyes, several things stood out to her about Cyclones star Audi Crooks. Lobo was impressed by Crooks’ ability, her hard work and her personality.
“She’s such a smart, thoughtful, kind and funny human being,” Lobo said in an interview with the Des Moines Register prior to Wednesday night’s Cy-Hawk game. “And that just oozes out of her even when you spend just a short amount of time around her.”
Count Lobo as a fan of Crooks. The former college and WNBA star raved about the Cyclones star before calling the 10th-ranked Cyclones’ 74-69 win over the 12th-ranked Hawkeyes at Hilton Coliseum. Crooks poured in a game-high 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Iowa State improved to 11-0.
“I love it,” Lobo said of watching Crooks. “She’s such a good kid. You see the joy. I like watching joyful players. She is a joyful player. When you talk to her, she is somebody who looks like, when she’s on the basketball court, there’s no other place she’d rather be and I love that about her. She just has an infectious way about her that makes you want to continue watching her.”
College basketball fans across the country are quickly gravitating toward Crooks, who has become one of the best players in the nation. The 6-foot-3 center leads the country in scoring, averaging 27.6 points per game. Crooks has already broken Iowa State’s single-game scoring record twice this season, dropping 43 points in a game and then 47 in another contest.
Lobo, the Associated Press player of the year in 1995 and a WNBA All-Star in 1999, has been covering college basketball for a long time. She can see why Crooks, a native of Algona, has become one of the most dominant college post players. Lobo covered the Cy-Hawk game in 2023 when Crooks was a freshman. She’s made massive strides since.
“The first time you put eyes on her, you’re absolutely struck by the unique frame and how quick her hands and feet are — how good her hands and feet are at her size and then her increased ability to finish around the rim,” Lobo said. “And everybody is game-planning around Audi and yet she’s still leading the nation in scoring and has become incredibly efficient.”
Crooks has been a big reason why the Cyclones are enjoying their best start in more than a decade. Iowa State’s 11-0 start marks the best start to the season since the 2013-14 campaign when the Cyclones opened the year with 14 straight wins. The attention Crooks receives on the court has been instrumental in the success of her teammates as well. What’s she’s done has impressed Lobo thoroughly.
“Audi is just such a unique talent in the women’s game,” Lobo said. “There’s really no other player quite like her and doing what she can do. She’s been a phenomenal anchor for them so far this season.”
If Iowa State continues its successful season and Crooks keeps putting up massive numbers, the Cyclones star will find herself in the national player of the year conversation, just like Lobo was when she was a star at UConn.
“Certainly right now, when you look at an undefeated team that’s a top-10 team, you’re like, ‘All right, who’s their best player and should she be in the conversation,’” Lobo said. “A lot of it will depend on if she’s going to be able to keep this level of scoring and this level of efficiency while leading a team that’s winning games.”
Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.
Five people were shot and injured at an Iowa City pedestrian mall near the University of Iowa campus overnight, police said Sunday. Students from the university were among the injured, according to school officials.
The Iowa City Police Department responded to a report of a large fight in the 100 Block of East College Street at 1:46 a.m. early Sunday, the department said in a news release. Arriving officers heard gunfire.
Multiple victims were hospitalized, police said. Police confirmed to CBS News that one person was in critical condition, while the other four victims are stable.
University of Iowa President Barb Wilson said in a statement that three students were among those shot. None of the victims has been publicly identified.
No arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing. Police said they are seeking information about five “persons of interest associated with this shooting.” The university also shared the request for information.
The pedestrian mall was closed for several hours and reopened Sunday afternoon.
Here are the candidates for High School on SI’s Iowa high school athlete of the week for April 13-18. Read through the nominees and cast your vote.
Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. PT on Sunday, April 26. The winner will be announced in the following week’s poll. Here are this week’s nominees:
Taylor Roose, Pella boys track and field
Roose competed in three events at the Norwalk Invitational, winning all three in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and long jump.
Daxon Kiesau, Urbandale boys track and field
Kiesau swept the throwing events at the Norwalk Invitational, taking first place in the shot put and the discus.
Alex Burger, Southeast Valley boys track and field
Competing at home, Burger dominated, earning four gold medals. He won the 400-meter hurdles and the long jump while running on the winning 4×200-meter relay and shuttle hurdle relay.
Kolby Hodnefield, Clear Lake boys track and field
Hodenfield, a defending state champion, broke the meet, venue and school record in the 200 and the 400 at the Clear Lake Invitational. He added victories as part of the 4×100 and 4×400 relays. Both relays also set meet records.
Easton Moon, North Polk boys tennis
Moon has started off his senior season on the courts unbeaten, winning all four matches while dropping just one game in 44 played.
Ava Lohrbach, Gilbert girls golf
One of the top golfers in the state, Lohrbach has had a hot start, firing a 35 in her nine-hole debut and a 72 for her 18-hole opener.
Nathan Manske, Algona boys golf
An elite quarterback and basketball player, Manske is showing his golfing skills this spring, coming out with a state-low 30 in a nine-hole event.
Ella Hein, Tipton girls track and field
Hein set school records in the 400-meter run and long jump at the Tiger/Tigerette Relays while also locking in the Blue Standard and qualifying for the Drake Relays. She won the long jump (18-6) and was second in the 400.
Maeve Bowen-Burt, Iowa City High girls track and field
The sophomore helped the Little Hawks land three Drake Relays events on the last night of qualifying, advancing in the 400 hurdles, along with the sprint medley and 4×400 relays.
About Our Athlete of the Week Voting
High School on SI voting polls are meant to be a fun, lighthearted way for fans to show support for their favorite athletes and teams. Our goal is to celebrate all of the players featured, regardless of the vote totals. Sometimes one athlete will receive a very large number of votes — even thousands — and that’s okay! The polls are open to everyone and are simply a way to build excitement and community around high school sports. Unless we specifically announce otherwise, there are no prizes or official awards for winning. The real purpose is to highlight the great performances of every athlete included in the poll.
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The late boxing great George Foreman lies buried in a cemetery in the northwestern corner of Iowa – a place he has no connection to outside of a lone visit to the region nearly 40 years ago.
Foreman died March 21, 2025, at the age of 76 in Houston and was buried in Logan Park Cemetery at Sioux City, Iowa, a month later, city officials confirmed. Foreman’s family returned Thursday to his burial site, holding a news conference with Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott to reveal Foreman’s burial place, marked by a large monument that bears an image of him as a teen following his Olympic gold medal boxing win.
The family explained in a statement released by Sioux City officials that he had visited the Iowa city in 1988, and often recalled the sense of peace he experienced there.
After traveling to the city on April 17 last year to bury Foreman, his family said they immediately understood the region’s appeal.
“Our father lived a life of purpose, faith and gratitude,” the family said in a statement released by Sioux City officials. “To see him laid to rest in a place that brought him peace means everything to us.”
Scott joined the family at Foreman’s monument that lies just a few miles north of the Missouri River in an upper Midwest city of nearly 87,000 people. The cemetery overlooks the scenic Loess Hills, created by windblown silt deposits that reach up to 200 feet high (about 61 meters) and line the river along the Iowa border for 200 miles (322 kilometers).
“Their story is a reminder of how one place can stay with someone for a lifetime,” Scott said.
A native Texan, Foreman rose to fame when he made the 1968 U.S. Olympic boxing team, winning gold in Mexico City. He became the heavyweight champion of the world in 1973 by defeating the great Joe Frazier, only to lose the title a year later to Muhammad Ali in the famous “Rumble in the Jungle.”
A full 20 years later in 1994, Foreman became the oldest man to win the heavyweight championship at 45, defeating Michael Moorer in an epic upset.
Foreman retired in 1997 with a 76-5 career record.
He then moved on to the next chapter in his life as a businessman, pitchman and occasional actor, becoming known to a new generation as the face of the George Foreman Grill. The simple cooking machine sold more than 100 million units and brought him more wealth than boxing.
A biographical movie based on Foreman’s life was released in 2023.
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