6 landing spots for star scorer Audie Crooks in transfer portal, including Iowa and UCLA

The women’s college basketball transfer portal got its biggest addition this week when Iowa State star Audie Crooks revealed she is entering college basketball free agency to “explore what it means to re-establish roots in a new land.” Which is code for getting one last big payday in his final year of eligibility.

In her three seasons with the Cyclones, Crooks became one of the best players in program history and emerged as one of the game’s leading scorers. Ranked second in the country with 25.8 points per night in 2025–26.

Crooks is a dominant force, with his bull in china shop style in the paint, and will surely have a number of big-time suitors in the transfer portal. With that in mind, we look at six potential landing spots for Star Jr.

UCLA Bruins

UCLA
Kirby Lee-Images Images

After a big win over Texas on Friday night, UCLA coach Corey Close is on the verge of bringing the women’s basketball program its first national championship. However, after the championship game, their team will either lose or win, as many stars are headed to the WNBA.

Close will need to rebuild quickly to keep the Bruins in tournament contention. Going after Crooks would make a lot of sense to fill the void left by the departure of top star Lauren Bates.

minnesota golden gophers

minnesota
Ed Szczepanski-Imagen Images

There is already talk that Minnesota could be the top contender for Audie Crooks in the transfer portal. Coach Don Plitzuwitz has turned the Golden Gophers into a powerhouse in the Big Ten and got the program to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years this month. Splurging on an Iowa State star in the portal and trying to jump into title contention next season would be a smart risk for the program.

lsu tigers

LSU
Ed Szczepanski-Imagen Images

LSU’s Kim Mulkey is one of the top coaches in college basketball and has already announced that she plans to enter the transfer portal to improve her roster for next season. Crooks could certainly be a priority to push the Tigers back into Final Four contention in 2026-27. The thought of Audie Crooks and Mylesia Fulville teaming up next season should scare SEC rivals.

iowa hockeys

iowa
Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen/via USA TODAY Network Images

Coaches Lisa Bluder and Kaitlin Clark transformed the women’s basketball program at Iowa into a glamor team. Jen Jensen has done a good job of maintaining the standards, but they need bigger guns. Especially because they will lose star forward Hannah Stuelke to graduation this spring.

Getting Crooks away from their in-state rivals would be a huge coup for the Hawkeyes program and they would get a new scoring machine in Clark.

yukon huskies

uconn
Patrick Breen/The Republic/USA TODAY via Network Images

After being the best team in basketball all season, Geno Auriemma didn’t handle UConn’s chance at another repeat after losing to South Carolina in the Final Four. He has never been a fan of the transfer portal. However, that bitter loss could propel them to make a big splash this spring. Especially since they will lose several key players after this season, including forward Sarah Williams.

tcu horned frog

TCU
Nick Trey. Smith-Imagen Images

Mark Campbell has turned TCU into an elite program in the Big 12 after back-to-back seasons with 32 or more wins. However, they are set to lose some elite players from the program this year, including star forward Marta Suarez. The university has expressed its desire to continue spending on the transfer portal. Going after the top scorer in the country will help maintain the Horned Frogs’ new standard as a top program in women’s college basketball.

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After earning a journalism degree in 2017, Jason Burgos worked as a contributor to several sites, including MMA Sacca… More about Jason Burgos


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Nick Nurse explains why he finally started playing breakout bench scorer

The Philadelphia 76ers went into Wednesday night’s matchup against the Utah Jazz missing almost their entire starting lineup, but thanks to an unexpected hero they walked away with a gritty 106-102 victory. While Tyrese Maxey handled the heavy lifting with 25 points, it was Jabari Walker’s breakout performance that caught everyone’s attention and ultimately gave head coach Nick Nurse a reason to smile.

Walker was a force off the bench, tallying a massive double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. He was efficient from the floor, making 7 of 12 shots overall and an impressive 4 of 7 from beyond the arc. It was the kind of performance the 76ers desperately needed with Joel Embiid, Paul George and VJ Edgecombe sidelined.

After the game, Nurse explained that Walker’s sudden increase in minutes was no accident. “We’re trying to get him to play like that. Because he’s like, and I’ve said this a lot before, like he’s a really good shooter, you just have to get used to the feeling of the NBA and be good enough to pull the trigger on them and be much better in his last few games and he’s just running.”

Perhaps the most intriguing part of Walker’s rise is his own explanation for his high-motor style. When asked about his emotional nature and hustle dramas, Walker offered a hilarious self-assessment, claiming that people who know him know he is “really kind of crazy”. He joked that there was “something really wrong” with him, but that energy clearly translated onto the court as he helped Philadelphia avoid a two-game losing streak.

The win also included 16 points from Quentin Grimes and a clutch follow-dunk from Adem Bona that tied the game late. For a 76ers team struggling to maintain their playoff position, finding a reliable bench weapon like Walker could be a ray of hope for an injury-plagued week.


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Contrasting bench scorer has vowed to keep the momentum going after Spurs explosion

Although there isn’t much to like about the Philadelphia 76ers’ overall loss to the San Antonio Spurs, one of the very minor bright spots was the play of former two-way contract forward Jabari Walker, who scored 20 points off the bench in just 19 minutes of action.

Picking up the slack for a team without Joel Embiid, Paul George and, for a portion of the game, VJ Edgecombe, who was ejected from the game after a hard foul from Carter Bryant in the second quarter, Walker did the job for a 76ers team that desperately needed it. Any To score a bucket or two, hitting two of his five shots from beyond the arc and seven of his ten total shots from the field, along with four rebounds, two assists and a steal.

The only 76ers player to finish a game with a positive plus/minus, Walker was asked about his surprisingly huge game after the contest and explained that he would love to get back on the court and Build on the momentum they created.

Walker declared, “100% if it were up to me, I wouldn’t want to sleep and would be right back there right now.” “So I’m just separating the days with eight hours of rest and then think of it as a continuation. Obviously, it’s a different team, but the mentality doesn’t change. Just let the days blend together and make it to tomorrow.”

A proven striver who worked his way up to a standard NBA contract after starting the season on a two-way deal. Walker’s 20-point performance was by far a season-high, with his next best game coming against the Milwaukee Bucks in December.

Will Walker be able to step up this game and become the 76ers’ new sixth man as Quentin Grimes has gone down offensively? maybe notBut gosh, if he could do that, it would pay massive dividends for a team that is in desperate need of at least one bench player who can score regularly.


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Premier League top scorer odds 2025/26: Erling Haaland already has one hand on Golden Boot

We are into the second half of the season and Erling Haaland is very much in pole position to be this year’s Premier League top scorer.

The top flight of English football is home to some of the best attacking players in the world, but Man City’s big Norwegian is once again in a class of his own this season.

Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and several other teams spent heavily on new strikers in the summer and all of them have taken some time to find their feet. It has also been a poor season for last season’s Golden Boot winner, Mo Salah.

Instead, it is Brentford’s Igor Thiago and Haaland’s new teammate Antoine Semenyo (who reached double figures for Bournemouth before his January switch) who are the closest to catching Pep Guardiola’s goal machine.

⚽ Latest Premier League top scorers & odds


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