Audi Crooks is quickly developing into a star.
Recent performances have catapulted the 20-year-old into the limelight and even captured the attention of an NBA champion.
Crooks demonstrated her quality Sunday when she led Iowa State to an 85-53 win over Kansas State in their regular season finale.
The center posted a season-high 36 points on 14-of-18 shooting and pulled down 10 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season.
She is also the fastest player to reach 1000 points in Iowa’s program history and has now scored in double figures in 63 straight games.
Crook’s paint dominance and power has seen her earn some comparisons with some of the best NBA centers of all-time, not least Shaquille O’Neal.
An Instagram post labelling Crooks as Lady Shaq was reposted by former Celtics star Kevin Garnett.
Garnett applauded Crooks’ dominance and captioning the post, “ 
That block work ”
The 2008 NBA champion went further with his praise, calling her style as “old-school fundamentals mixed with new-age dominance.”
Comparisons with O’Neal cannot be taken lightly. The former Lakers star is rated as one of the greatest basketball players ever and made a name as one of the most punishing athletes.
O’Neal was the big man that other opposing big-men were intimidated by.
The now 52-year-old also enjoyed a career full of accolades.
O’Neal picked up four NBA championships, three Finals MVPs, one regular season MVP, three All-Star Game MVPs, Olympic and World Championship gold medals.
Garnett isn’t alone in rating Crooks highly, Women’s Hoops Network shared a video of her highlights and fans flocked to the comments to praise her.
“Pleasure to watch dominant post play. NBA could take a page from Crooks book!” one fan commented.
“Audi is a female Shaq no one can top her in the paint she a baller,” one fan wrote, comparing Crooks’ athleticism to the NBA legend.
“Lady Joker,” one simply put, drawing a parallel between her and Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic.
Crooks has a long career ahead of her to match the achievements of O’Neal but for now she can enjoy garnering praise for her performances at Iowa State.
