Iowa State Basketball Star Lands on AP All-America Second Team

The 2025-26 college basketball season has been incredibly successful for both the Iowa State Cyclones men’s and women’s teams.

Both squads have qualified for their respective NCAA tournaments, with the men being a No. 2 seed and the women a No. 8 seed. Leading the way for both teams on the hardwood are dominant frontcourt players who have helped elevate the programs to a new level.

For the men, it is Joshua Jefferson, who was selected as an All-American, landing on the second team. He fell just short of being on the First Team, finishing right behind Texas Tech Red Raiders star forward JT Toppin.

On the women’s side, it was Audi Crooks who matched Jefferson’s success by being named to the Second Team All-America by the Associated Press.

Audi Crooks makes AP All-America Second Team

Iowa State Cyclones' center Audi Crooks (55) reacts after a score against Kansas State during the second quarter in the Big-12 conference women’s basketball on Feb. 15, 2026, at Hilton Coliseum, in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

This is the latest accolade earned by the dominant Cyclones center. She was also selected to the All-America teams by The Sporting News and USBWA. It is also the third time in her career that she has been named to the AP All-America Team.

Along with the All-America accolades, Crooks was also named to the All-Big 12 Conference First Team for the third straight season. It is easy to see why she has received such recognition after dominating on the court.

The Iowa State star averaged 25.5 points per game on 64.7% shooting from the field, making 66.1% of her 2-point attempts. It was the second consecutive campaign that she led the Big 12 in all three statistics; she was also the leader in effective field goal rate at 64.9%.

Another one!! Audi is an 𝘼𝙋 𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝘼𝙡𝙡-𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣!

🌪️🏀🌪️ | https://t.co/0qTecHFxly pic.twitter.com/MRbEaQ3vom
— Cyclone Basketball (@CycloneWBB) March 18, 2026

Truly a force to be reckoned with, she became only the second player in NCAA Division I history, in men’s or women’s basketball, to average at least 25.5 points per game while making at least 64.7% of shot attempts. The other was Megan Gustafson of the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

A major reason that Crooks was able to fill up the score sheet as much as she did was an improvement in her free throw shooting. She made 73.7% of her attempts from the free throw line, a notable improvement from the 67.2% she shot in her first two campaigns.

Her stat line was rounded out with 7.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.8 blocks in 28.8 minutes per game. She had 12 double-doubles, was the only player with multiple 40-point games this season and has the longest active streak of double-digit scoring games with 97.