Funding for, in their words, is provided by Musco lighting
and the Pellow Rolscreen Foundation.
I'm Audi Crooks and I play basketball at Bishop
Garrigan High School.
I think I first really got into basketball,
probably around the first grade, just through Rec League in YMCA League,
I tried a lot of different sports as a kid, but I always grew up, you know,
hearing about my mom, she was a past state participant here at Bishop Garrigan
and my dad was a good player also on that Fort Dodge team.
So it's definitely been,
you know, in the back of my mind and just hearing it as a child, you know,
you're going to be a ball player, and I just kind of stuck with the sport.
I think as a kid, I was pretty decent, but I don't think anybody
would have thought that I would progress to the player that I am today.
My mom always made sure that we had a hoop in the driveway,
so her and I would just go out and play pig and horse and stuff,
and it really started to kind of
pick up in junior high and seventh grade when I got on the AAU circuit
and learned some things, picked up some skills, kind of got the basics for
my mom and just taught myself and took off from there.
I am currently six-three, and as a child,
I was always the tallest in my class, so I've been used to being pretty tall.
I don't think I really noticed a spurt, but I know in junior high
I was probably about six-one so I've always been up here.
I broke the state record for
points scored as a freshman with 626 points.
Right now I'm averaging right around 23 points per game,
twelve rebounds per game.
My mother
currently owns the best field goal percentage
in career and I have the best field goal percentage in a season.
So I have to wait till I'm a senior to see if I'm going to pass her up.
And that's definitely,
you know, definitely some trash talking at home about that
and seeing if I'm going to pass her up and knock her off the board.
I think Michelle's enjoying the last couple a year
and a half of having her picture on the thing .
State at the end of the year is just where every team wants to be.
And I think it's a blessing
to have been able to been there, both my freshman and my sophomore year,
and we're having a pretty good campaign this year.
State is just a really fun, really cool experience.
Just playing in that big arena and knowing that you know
what you've been working for towards this season has paid off.
"Shot by Audi Crooks." My freshman and sophomore year both
ended up with state runner up trophies, which isn't a ship,
but it's still a blessing, and I think we performed really well
down there in Des Moines.
So I've been
recruited by all of the D1 in state schools
by some schools on the East Coast, West Coast,
down south, up north.
The next level is tough, and so as a player,
you have to evolve and change your game and step it up,
whether that be developing more range or being more comfortable,
solidifying post moves, expanding your basketball IQ,
all that's going to be necessary to be successful at the college level..
One thing that's always been really important to me is relationships.
So building a bond and finding,
you know, a school with that family atmosphere, that feeling of, you know,
people have your back Cause I'm definitely a people person.
I'm a talker.
Coach will testify to that during practice sometimes.
I also play volleyball and
I'm in track and I am in choir band and speech.
I really like just being involved because it gives you an opportunity
to learn about yourself and learn about new people and just meet
friends and branch out outside of just, you know, the basketball team.
Basketball has given me a lot in terms of relationships,
and it's taught me how to handle a lot of life's
lessons, such as adversity and learning to overcome obstacles
and to face challenges and just to persist.
"Number 55 Audi Crooks." My goal for this year
is to get back to Wells Fargo and to win a state championship.
Whenever I'm in school and I see some young girls in the hallway
they'll always come up to me
and ask me for high fives or ask me about the game tonight.
And it just means a lot to me
that I can contribute and bring attention to Bishop Garrigan basketball.
Not only that, but also to Iowa girls basketball and,
you know, the kind of movement that's going on with females in sports.
Funding for, in their words, is provided
by Musco Lighting, the sports lighting specialist,
providing lighting systems for you, your project and your community.
And by.
The Pella Rolscreen
Foundation is a proud supporter of Iowa PBS.
Pella windows and doors strives to better our communities
and build a better tomorrow.