For Iowa State’s Audi Crooks, music serves as a balm and a lasting bond with her dad

When Iowa State center Audi Crooks was 11 years old, her father, Jimmie, had her stick around at their local Baptist church after their weekly service as parishioners filed out the doors. 

Jimmie Crooks was a pianist at the church. He beckoned his daughter to join him as he sat at the piano bench, directing Crooks toward the vacant drum kit. Crooks, having never played the drums before, or really any instrument at all, approached the tom drums and cymbals with a reticence.

“I had no idea what I was doing. I’d never felt more uncoordinated, like unmusical, in my life,” Crooks said. 

She accompanied her dad as he played and taught her the basics. The experience was memorable for Crooks, who would go on to develop a profound passion for music and instrumentation. Jimmie Crooks died in 2021 at the age of 55.

“Later in life, I learned that I could sing and play [music] and that I had a good ear and certain things some people are just born with. I was one of those people,” she said. “So when I figured out that I had a knack for it, then I picked it up.”

Today, if Crooks, now 21, is not on the court playing for Iowa State women’s basketball, where she has starred as one of the premier talents in the country this season, you can find her singing, behind a piano, strumming a guitar or attempting to learn a new instrument, her previous reticence now replaced with curiosity and mastery.

“Whenever we travel to away games and they have drum sets in the facilities, she’s always trying to find some sticks to play,” Crooks’ teammate and roommate Sydney Harris said. “I know she bought a violin and was trying to get that underneath her belt, too.”

Basketball and music, and Crooks’ journeys navigating both, have gone hand in hand in supplying her a sense of balance. Together, they’ve been instrumental as she has soared to new heights and spotlights by way of her talent on the basketball court.

“I think music can really take you places, right? When the noise comes, I listen to music that, you know, at [that] time there wasn’t noise or maybe the noise was happier or it wasn’t as loud,” Crooks said. “It just kind of takes me back to those humble beginnings and into childhood memories – to good memories.”

Crooks’ first memories of music began in car rides with her parents as a kid growing up in Algona, Iowa. She remembers riding in the backseat while her parents toggled between various hometown radio stations. Crooks’ initial exposure was quite eclectic. Her mom, Michelle Cook, had an affinity for hip-hop.

“I remember vividly she would turn up Biggie Smalls,” Cook said. 

Cook described Crooks as a kid that was constantly singing a tune, whether that be to the oldies she was exposed to by her parents or the Top 100. 

“I would usually say, ‘What’s that?’ And [Audi] would say, ‘Ma, you don’t know nothing about that,” Cook said. “She was pretty young when that ‘Chicken Noodle Soup with the soda on the side’ [song] came out. Her and all the kids would do the little dance to it and sing the whole song.”

Jimmie Crooks exposed his daughter to the world of funk, soul and gospel, where she discovered artists ranging from Whitney Houston to Kirk Franklin, and would always play and sing gospel records or have them playing on the speakers in their home.

“I don’t know if he had a favorite, but he really liked ‘God Is My Everything’ by the Chicago Mass Choir,” Crooks said. 

Music bonded Crooks and her dad. Jimmie Crooks gave his daughter her musical foundation and cultivated her passion for music through playing together and instruction. 

“They can listen to a song and then just play it. They don’t necessarily need to read the music. He was the same way, so I’m happy that she has that talent,” Cook said. 

“It was just cool to see that they could find something that they both enjoyed. It was near and dear to him, so it was cool to see her pick that up as well.”

For Crooks, the lessons in music she learned from her dad went beyond the instruction.

“When [my dad] was really happy, there’d be certain music he would play. When he was not in the best mood, there’d be a certain kind of music he’d play,” said Crooks, who has continued to invest in her passion for music as a way to carry out her bond with her father. “It kind of taught me that life and music are pretty similar – that they kind of correlate. Music can get you through, good or bad.”

Crooks hasn’t shied away from sharing her talent with the public. During Team USA team trials for the AmeriCup that took place last summer, LSU senior guard Flau’jae Johnson posted a duet she performed with Crooks on Instagram. With Crooks seated at the piano, they performed a duet to “Dancing on My Own” by the artist Robyn. The reaction to Crooks’ talent was overwhelming.

“I think it’s incredible,” Cook said of the fanfare Crooks received. “I love the fact that they recognize her for more than just putting the ball in the hoop. That, you know, she’s dimensional and she has other talents. It’s something she can connect with a lot of people on, no matter what age or race.”

Contrary to the norm, Crooks, who is 6-foot-3, doesn’t prefer hype music to get her in the right headspace for competition. On game days, Crooks said she is already as amped as she needs to be before taking the floor. She prefers a more “somber” approach.

“My go-to before each game is ‘Gracefully Broken,’” Crooks said of the ballad sung by gospel artist Tasha Cobbs Leonard. “It’s kind of a sad song, but that’s just how I center myself and get my mind right.

“And then after the game, we might throw on some Biggie.”

If there’s a song Crooks believes most accurately embodies the feeling of entering her own personal zone on the court, it’s “Hypnotize” by the Notorious B.I.G. It’s a fitting comparison to the late legendary rapper, who on the song boisterously flaunts his talent on the mic as he mesmerizes his fans with an air of invincibility.

Equally unstoppable is Crooks when she is leveraging an effortless seal in the post, gracefully choreographing her footwork to wheel around defenders or deploying a fadeaway that when locked in feels near indefensible. The bravado may not come from Crooks herself, but her eye-popping statlines certainly do the talking for her. She is averaging 25.9 points per game this season.

“That’d be my little highlight reel music,” Crooks said of Hypnotize, the 1997 chart-topper.

In tracing the trajectory of her college basketball career, Crooks was asked to label her three seasons to date at Iowa State as album titles. 

She titled her freshman year “The Challenge,” an introductory campaign in which Crooks defied her own expectations while emphatically launching her name into the national conversation.

Crooks’ sophomore year, “Persistence,” was defined by another standout individual season, but the Cyclones underperformed projections. Nearing the end of conference play in her junior year, Crooks has labeled this season, accurately, as “The Takeover.”

Crooks, currently tied for first in scoring in women’s college basketball, is in the middle of a history-making season filled with a handful of 40-pieces and rewritten records. In a 33-point, 12-rebound performance against Texas Tech in late January, according to ESPN Stats & Information, Crooks became the fastest player in Big 12 Conference history to reach 2,000 career points, doing so in 89 games and passing conference legends such as Courtney Paris (94) and Brittney Griner (95).

On Nov. 12, Crooks set the Iowa State single-game scoring record when she registered 43 points in a win over Valparaiso – a record that previously had stood for more than 40 years. It took her 18 days to set a new single-game scoring record, totalling 47 points in a win over Indiana on Nov. 30.

“I kind of went out on a hot streak there for a while,” Crooks said, smiling. “That was never the end goal. The expectation is just to appreciate the present and not take anything for granted because to me a bad day is 20 points, 10 boards. That’s somebody’s best day.”

Crooks’ expectations today are a far cry from those she set when she arrived in Ames, Iowa, as a freshman, unsure if she would even play. Since then, she has found herself constantly setting, surpassing and resetting expectations of her game. Crooks holds a certain pride in being able to set those goals but said it’s also what is required for her team’s success.

“It’s not about what I need to do so I get posted on this [outlet], but like, what do I need to do so that my team wins this game? What do I need to do to set up others for success?” Crooks said. “I would say that’s the standard for myself because that’s the standard that’s been set out for me.”

That standard has included raising her overall game. Harris, her teammate, said one of the biggest changes she has seen in Crooks between her sophomore and junior seasons has been a focus on elevating her defensive presence.

“I know she’s really been trying to focus on that [her defense], getting extra reps on that and stuff,” Harris said. 

“She knows that she’s a big piece of this team, and our success is going to be based mainly around her performance. She knows that, so she’s doing everything she can to not just stay steady but just keep elevating her game every time.”

When asked what the first song would be if her team were to win a Big 12 title, or more, Crooks referred to the Cyclones’ team song: “Trophies” by Drake. 

“But if it were my pick, it would be ‘God Is My Everything,’” Crooks said. “Go back to the roots.” 

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