moving on to next years team

[StClone]

Dude, it is the silly season for CF. Will last until the first football game when the silliness will maybe drop by 50%. The game threads will make up for it though.

Much higher awareness, interest, and posting in the WBB forum this Spring than any other I can recall. It seems because of the defections, excitement of the WNBA draft, portal activity, Iowa/Clark in the champ. game, and our incoming 2023 class.

Posting activity will likely decrease as warmer weather returns. However we have some 2024 recruiting news coming, maybe more portal influx, and the WBB European trip this summer. We could see a lot more interest through the summer on into August than ever.

 

[barometriclow]

Remember Angie Welle as a freshman. Not very impressive and then maybe our best post ever.

 

[OWLCITYCYFAN]

Remember Angie Welle as a freshman. Not very impressive and then maybe our best post ever.

I'm cautiously optimistic regarding Audi's future as a Cyclone!

Having said that, Angie Welle is the best post ever to play at ISU and my recollection is that she was great as a freshman! She started right away and was a double-double machine, shooting a ridiculous % from the field and a leader on an NCAA tournament team. She was 6'4 and athletic, often beating other teams down the court.

In short, I'm not a fan of the comparison, but I do agree we need to be patient with Audi Crooks as her best years are probably beyond next season. Her introduction to Big XII basketball, with athletic DeYona Gaston and huge Ayoka Lee at KSU, will be eye-opening.

 

[CyLyte2]

I assume Crooks plays AAU basketball. If you want a better idea how she’ll play right away at Iowa State, that’s where to look.

 

[acoustimac]

I'm cautiously optimistic regarding Audi's future as a Cyclone!

Having said that, Angie Welle is the best post ever to play at ISU and my recollection is that she was great as a freshman! She started right away and was a double-double machine, shooting a ridiculous % from the field and a leader on an NCAA tournament team. She was 6'4 and athletic, often beating other teams down the court.

In short, I'm not a fan of the comparison, but I do agree we need to be patient with Audi Crooks as her best years are probably beyond next season. Her introduction to Big XII basketball, with athletic DeYona Gaston and huge Ayoka Lee at KSU, will be eye-opening.

Welle was an amazing athlete. Period.

 

[mred]

Remember Angie Welle as a freshman. Not very impressive and then maybe our best post ever.

Having said that, Angie Welle is the best post ever to play at ISU and my recollection is that she was great as a freshman! She started right away and was a double-double machine, shooting a ridiculous % from the field and a leader on an NCAA tournament team. She was 6'4 and athletic, often beating other teams down the court.

The truth is somewhere in the middle, but much closer to @iccyfan 's take, imho . Angie turned a corner from "solid post" to "all time great" early in her sophomore year -- she had an underwhelming performance in a loss against Drake (the game Frese went 10-18 behind the arc and nobody else did anything) and had a discussion with Bill (I believe initiated by Angie) to figure out what she needed to do to be better. IIRC he gave his standard talk about finding a way to impact the game -- if the shots aren't falling, play defense and get rebounds, etc. She started playing like the Welle we knew and loved, and she ended up being AP Hon Mention AA that year (followed by 3rd team as a jr and 2nd team as a sr).

But as a freshman, she played 26.7 mpg, getting 10.9 ppg (58% fg) and 6.8 rpg. She was HM all-big 12 that year, too. You'd love to have that kind of production from a freshman post anytime.

(EDIT: 10-18, not 10-16)

 

[acoustimac]

Remember Angie Welle as a freshman. Not very impressive and then maybe our best post ever.

Perhaps a better comparison would be Pop. As a freshman she was pretty rough around the edges. Lots of energy and had the drive to succeed. Had one of the ugliest free throw shots in school history. (8.8 ppg, 7 rebounds per game and 62% FT shooter - I can't believe it was that high). I've never seen any player work harder to get better than she did. By the time she was a senior she was a player any team in the country would have drooled over. (14ppg, 10 rebounds per game and 84% FT shooter).

 

[CYdTracked]

Remember Angie Welle as a freshman. Not very impressive and then maybe our best post ever.

She was a starter from day 1 her freshman year on a team that was pretty loaded with some veterans and she made an immediate impact. Yes she finished as one of the all time greats but it's not like she struggled her freshman year. Trying to find the stats from that season but not finding them at first search. Tend to agree with @acoustimac that Poppens is a better comparison. Welle was much more consistent and a bigger part of the offense than Pop was her freshman year.

Funny story about Welle, she was a freshman the same year I was at ISU and I remember this really tall girl - and I'm 6 foot tall myself so even I thought she was tall - sat down in the row in front of me in a class my first day. I had no clue at the time who she was but thought to myself "damn she sure is tall I wonder if she plays/played basketball." I attended the first ISU women's game of the season and there she is in the starting lineup! There was another post recruit in her class that actually was the higher rated recruit of the 2, I can't remember her name but she had a knee injury that she never played a game for ISU so would have been interesting to see what would of happened with both their careers if she was healthy.

 

[OWLCITYCYFAN]

I assume Crooks plays AAU basketball. If you want a better idea how she’ll play right away at Iowa State, that’s where to look.

People keep saying this, but nobody ever posts any AAU video. She played for the CY Select Wolves, a squad which includes her HS team mate (Molly Joyce), and frankly doesn't appear to be much higher level play than Bishop Garrigan. Note: I only watched a pair of short clips. Audi does the same thing she does in her HS clips - the guards flip her the ball over the top and she makes short shots versus shorter competition.

As for results, the CY Select Wolves don't appear to be very good. I pulled up one tournament, the Windy City Classic in Milwaukee, a US Junior Nationals event, where the Wolves were 0-4 in their five-team pool. versus other teams from the Midwest. I don't think this team is playing in one of the footwear sponsored series where you've seen the other ISU recruits starring...

In short, I'm not anti-Audi - quite the opposite actually. But people need to rein in their expectations and quit jumping anybody who suggests she's going to require time to develop.

Peace out - it's a beautiful day and time for a long bike ride followed by margaritas and dinner with friends. Everybody have a great weekend...

 

[mred]

There was another post recruit in her class that actually was the higher rated recruit of the 2, I can't remember her name but she had a knee injury that she never played a game for ISU so would have been interesting to see what would of happened with both their careers if she was healthy.

Jessica Jackson. Additionally, I believe Alyssa Shriver was also rated pretty highly, and she ended up transferring to Tulsa (and having a decent career there) after it was clear Welle was the #1 option in the post.

 

[ChiClone22]

People keep saying this, but nobody ever posts any AAU video. She played for the CY Select Wolves, a squad which includes her HS team mate (Molly Joyce), and frankly doesn't appear to be much higher level play than Bishop Garrigan. Note: I only watched a pair of short clips. Audi does the same thing she does in her HS clips - the guards flip her the ball over the top and she makes short shots versus shorter competition.

As for results, the CY Select Wolves don't appear to be very good. I pulled up one tournament, the Windy City Classic in Milwaukee, a US Junior Nationals event, where the Wolves were 0-4 in their five-team pool. versus other teams from the Midwest. I don't think this team is playing in one of the footwear sponsored series where you've seen the other ISU recruits starring...

In short, I'm not anti-Audi - quite the opposite actually. But people need to rein in their expectations and quit jumping anybody who suggests she's going to require time to develop.

Peace out - it's a beautiful day and time for a long bike ride followed by margaritas and dinner with friends. Everybody have a great weekend...

Here are some Audi Crooks AAU highlight videos:
Audi AAU highlights video 1 (summer 2022)
Audi AAU highlight vs UConn recruit (summer 2021)

 

[acoustimac]

If I remember correctly, Welle came from a small catholic school (ShanleyHigh School) in Fargo. About the same size as Garrigan. Would assume her high school competition was similar to Crooks. So, we just can’t tell anything from that viewpoint.

 

[NWICY]

Perhaps a better comparison would be Pop. As a freshman she was pretty rough around the edges. Lots of energy and had the drive to succeed. Had one of the ugliest free throw shots in school history. (8.8 ppg, 7 rebounds per game and 62% FT shooter - I can't believe it was that high). I've never seen any player work harder to get better than she did. By the time she was a senior she was a player any team in the country would have drooled over. (14ppg, 10 rebounds per game and 84% FT shooter).

Pop was a all time great Cyclone. Really good at drawing offensive fouls. Keep that long red hair in a pony tail, snap her head back that red hair flied back as someone bumps her then go down. She would get the call nearly every time. The Pop flop I believe it was called.

 

[BCClone]

Pop was an all time great Cyclone. Really good at drawing offensive fouls. Keep that long red hair in a pony tail, snap her head back that red hair flied back as someone bumps her then go down. She would get the call nearly every time. The Pop flop I believe it was called.

My in-laws were in the same bar cooler as her when the F5 tornado leveled Parkersburg. Yeah, I know, cool story bro.