Keep in mind I am not arguing against Crooks, just stepping back and looking at how the coaches might evaluate it. Crooks might already be my favorite all-time player at ISU. Going to be a tough vote for the coaches. Booker and Crooks haven't just been the best freshman, they've been the best players.
This is like Shohei Ohtani vs Aaron Judge for MLB MVP a couple of years ago. Both were deserving and you could have unapologetically voted for either without having to defend your vote or explain how your player is the "better" one. Twitter was full of fans cherry-picking stats to show how the 'other" one was undeserving which was truly silly. Between Crooks and Booker I don't think either is decisively "better". They've both been great. I bet either one of them would trade an individual award for the title that the Sooners won. They are both unselfish team players. If anything Booker should maybe have looked for her shot more than she did. Whoever the coaches vote will have 'won" the award and the other will not have "lost" it .
Texas did lose one of the best players in the country and POY pick for the Big 12 at PG. ISU would not have been 12-6 if Ryan hadn't been able to play PG in league play. Booker playing PG would have been like us having Brown take over point all through league play. On the other hand Crooks has excelled at post were the best don't usually start out like a house afire. Both players were their team MVP for what that is worth in scaling things.
Discussion / debate is what makes the board interesting - I'll play along:
Madison Booker was the #12 ranked recruit in the country (ESPN W), has played on numerous USA Under 17, 18 & 19 Age Group Teams, and was expected to lead Texas to the conference title. I know they lost Harmon early but that team still had enough firepower to win the conference, yet didn't. Texas has had 29 McDonald's All Americans in their program over the last decade or so. Booker's supporting cast is very high quality.
Audi Crooks was the #58 Player in the recruiting class, played in Iowa's smallest grouping of schools (1A) and never played for a top AAU team. She wasn't expected to start in the post for ISU - Isnelle Natabou was recruited out of the portal and started the first four games of the season. ISU has signed three McDonald's All-Americans in program history. Crooks supporting cast is good, but young.
In terms of expectations, Booker has played well but might have fallen slightly short, while Crooks has frigging blown them out of the water by every measure. Audi Crooks should be the Big XII FOY.
