Sooner legend Gerald McCoy is publicly recruiting Audi Crooks to the Oklahoma Women's Basketball squad, to pair up with Aaliyah Chavez
Just one day after Iowa State center Audi Crooks shocked the women’s basketball world by entering the transfer portal, Oklahoma Sooners legend Gerald McCoy wasted no time making his pitch.
The former All-Pro defensive tackle and proud OU alum took to X with a not-so-subtle recruitment post that has fans buzzing across Norman and beyond.
“I know a school that just lost their center and would love to have you Audi!! They know a thing or 2 about great women’s centers at that school in Norman……. Just saying…… 🤷🏾♂️,” McCoy tweeted from his @Geraldini93 account, directly tagging the nation’s second-leading scorer.
The message was clear: Oklahoma needs a new anchor in the paint after senior Raegan Beers’ graduation, and McCoy believes Crooks is the perfect fit to fill that void.
Crooks, a 6-foot-3 junior from Algona, Iowa, has been nothing short of dominant during her three seasons in Ames.
In 2025-26, she averaged 25.8 points per game on a scorching 64.9% field-goal shooting, along with 7.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists while starting all 31 games she played.
She set Iowa State single-season records for points (801) and field goals made, broke her own single-game scoring mark with 47 points against Indiana, and posted multiple 40-point performances.
Over her career, Crooks ranks among the program’s all-time leaders in scoring average (22.8 ppg), points, and field-goal percentage. She’s earned three First Team All-Big 12 honors, two AP All-American nods, and established herself as one of the most unstoppable post players in the country.
Her departure from Iowa State marks the latest high-profile exit in what has become a mass exodus for the Cyclones, but for Oklahoma, it represents a golden opportunity.
The Sooners are coming off back-to-back Sweet Sixteen appearances under head coach Jennie Baranczyk and are hungry to take the next step toward a national championship.
Beers provided elite interior presence during her two seasons in Norman, but her graduation leaves a massive hole at center. Enter Crooks, a proven scorer who could immediately step in and dominate the SEC paint.
The fit goes beyond statistics.
Crooks and Oklahoma freshman phenom Aaliyah Chavez, already one of the SEC’s most explosive guards, could form one of the most lethal guard-center tandems in the nation.
Chavez’s perimeter scoring and playmaking paired with Crooks’ interior dominance would create matchup nightmares for opponents.
USA Today’s Mitchell Northam went so far as to rank Oklahoma as the top landing spot for Crooks in his breakdown of transfer destinations, writing: “The Sooners are going to need a post presence following the graduation of Raegan Beers. Would there be a point guard and center combination in the country better than Crooks and Aaliyah Chavez?”
Personal connections only strengthen the case. Baranczyk, a fellow Iowan, served as an assistant coach for the Team USA AmeriCup squad that featured Crooks. That prior relationship could ease the transition.
Add in the relatively short drive from Ames to Norman, a natural geographic fit for a player who has spent her entire life in the Midwest, and the Sooners check every box.
For McCoy, the tweet wasn’t just fan enthusiasm. As one of Oklahoma’s most decorated football alumni, he has long been vocal about supporting all Sooner athletics. His quick pivot into women’s basketball recruiting underscores how deeply invested the OU community is in elevating every program.
If Crooks lands in Norman, the Sooners instantly become national-title contenders.
The combination of veteran leadership from Crooks, explosive scoring from Chavez, and Baranczyk’s up-tempo system could push Oklahoma past the Sweet Sixteen and into the Final Four conversation for the first time in over a decade.
The program has already shown it can compete at the highest level; adding a player of Crooks’ caliber would signal a new era of championship contention.
As the transfer portal window opens wider, all eyes are on Audi Crooks. Gerald McCoy has made his move.
Now it’s up to the Sooners’ coaching staff, and Crooks herself, to decide if Norman is the next stop on her journey.