How Jacie Hoyt, Audi Crooks and Oklahoma State were a 'natural fit'
Oklahoma State coach Jacie Hoyt still remembers the car ride after picking up Iowa State transfer center Audi Crooks from the airport. As they rolled into Stillwater for Crooks’ visit, the connection was immediate.
“I feel like I’ve known her my whole life, and she’s acting like she’s known me her whole life,” Hoyt said.
Crooks, from small-town Iowa, was even excited to find a pond behind Hoyt’s house that she could fish at. Everything seemed to line up on the visit.
Crooks was the No. 1 recruit in the transfer portal after averaging 25.8 points and 7.7 rebounds a game for the Cyclones. She could have transferred anywhere, to any blue blood program. Instead, Crooks found her home in Stillwater. OSU landing one of the nation’s most dominant players might be a surprise to others, but not to Hoyt and the Cowgirls.
“The best way I can describe it was just natural,” Hoyt said. “Audi is just an incredible person. She’s a great fit in this community. … Her and I, we just are a very natural fit with one another. I think the comfort level is very, very high for both of us.
“… She’s just a very down-to-earth person that doesn’t need a lot of flash or anything like that. We were just exactly who we are. We didn’t want to put on a show that was not who we are on a daily basis, and I think she really appreciated that, and that’s ultimately what helped her make her decision to be a Cowgirl.”
The lines of conversation between Hoyt and Crooks went silent for a moment. In the immediate days after Crooks entered the portal in April, Hoyt reached out, but conversations died down. Hoyt was focused on filling other spots on the roster, which had been decimated in the portal – only senior guard Stailee Heard remained. Hoyt pressed forward with recruiting.
“I’m just kind of thinking (Crooks) is not interested, and that’s fine. That happens all the time,” Hoyt said.
Then, Hoyt’s phone buzzed one day with a text from Crooks, asking if she was still interested.
“And I’m like, ‘Hell yeah, I’m still interested,” Hoyt said. “This is amazing.”
Hoyt recruited Crooks when she was a coach at UMKC. She didn’t land Crooks, but she played against her the past three seasons when the Cowgirls played ISU. Hoyt knew Crooks was comfortable with her, and she knew Stillwater would be a good fit for an Iowan.
Hoyt also knew there would be plenty of other teams after Crooks, but she trusted their relationship.
“Audi goes into the portal and there’s this whole buffet of options, and everything sounds really great. But when you get down to the heart of what’s really important to you, I think that’s when she kinda circled back,” Hoyt said.
Money is always at least a factor in transfer portal decisions these days, and Hoyt doesn’t argue that. And though Hoyt said the funding for building a roster was helpful, that wasn’t the deciding factor in Crooks’ decision.
Reports circulated of Crooks making $1.4 million to play at OSU, and Hoyt called those numbers “fake.”
“I have no idea who that is or why that number was it, but it’s not true,” Hoyt said. “And I’m not gonna get into the details on that. That’s really no one’s business.”
Other than the fit personally, Hoyt said Crooks wanted to play in OSU’s system. The Cowgirls play up-tempo and were 15th in scoring offense and 11th in 3-point shooting a season ago. Crooks wanted to play in that pace of offense, and Hoyt said she isn’t changing that style.
Crooks brings a different skill set and more of a post presence than the Cowgirls have played with in past seasons, and Hoyt said there will be some tweaks like they make every year. It will be a challenge to mold a totally new roster together with a centerpiece like Crooks and for her to adapt, but Hoyt is excited and confident in the fit.
“Audi is very motivated to want to play in a system that she feels can help her go to the next level, and I think we have a really good system for that,” Hoyt said. “And she saw that, she played against it, she felt it.
“… I think she’s excited to kind of fit into us. We’re not changing everything for Audi, and Audi doesn’t want that. Audi wants to be pushed. She wants to be in a system that’s going to help develop her and push her in ways that she hasn’t been pushed. I’m excited just to see how I can fit her into that, because I think it’s going to be challenging on both sides, but the best kind of challenging.”
