Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Oklahoma State faces a critical offseason rebuild with nine players entering the transfer portal, yet aims to contend in the competitive Big 12 conference.
- The Cowgirls have made a bold strategic shift, prioritizing high-volume offensive talent over defensive consistency to create an unstoppable scoring attack.
- With Liv McGill and Audi Crooks, Oklahoma State will boast a powerful inside-outside offensive tandem that could make them a Big 12 contender.
On the surface, Iowa State transfer Audi Crooks' decision to choose Oklahoma State over higher-profile schools seems odd. Like the Cyclones, the Cowgirls had a mass exodus of players this offseason, with nine players leaving in the portal.
But dig a bit deeper and it starts to make sense. Specifically, the addition of Florida transfer Liv McGill gives Oklahoma State a pair of elite scorers to build around. While we need to see how the rest of the roster shakes out, the Cowgirls have the makings of a really exciting team that could wind up battling for a Big 12 title.
What Audi Crooks brings to Stillwater
Before talking about what the Cowgirls are building, let's just talk a little about what Audi Crooks specifically is bringing to this team.
Crooks is a divisive figure in the women's basketball world. Some people are huge fans of her game because she's a nightmare to defend. Last season, Crooks finished second in the nation in both points per game and field goal percentage.
Others aren't quite so high on her, largely because of her defensive liabilities. Crooks exerts a lot on the offensive end, and that often leads to her disappearing on defense. She tends to get out of position and struggles to recover when ball-handlers get past her. Despite offering a size advantage, Crooks doesn't really offer the rim protection you'd expect, averaging just 0.8 blocks per game last season.
But Oklahoma State is betting on the offensive stuff to win out over the defensive concerns. In fact, it looks like the Cowgirls are taking that approach with their entire roster-building process this offseason.
The Crooks-McGill pairing will be fun
It can be fun to build with a completely clean slate. Look at Ole Miss last season; the Rebels basically put together a team from scratch in the transfer portal, and that team won 24 games and came within a bucket of a Sweet 16 appearance.
The Big 12 is theoretically easier to win than the SEC, so if the Cowgirls can nail this portal-based rebuild, then the team should have an even higher ceiling than Ole Miss last year.
It appears that the goal for Oklahoma State in this portal window is to build an offense so unstoppable that the defensive concerns will barely matter, and it's done that not just with Crooks, but with the addition of McGill as well, giving the team a strong inside-outside game.
McGill wasn't particularly efficient at Florida, but she still managed to average 22.5 points per game thanks to her volume, as she shot the fifth-most field goals per game. With Crooks taking the defense's attention inside, McGill should have significantly more room to operate this upcoming season, which should help her improve on her 26.4 percent mark from 3-point range. She's a very willing shooter, but the shots just weren't falling from long-range on a Gators team where no one else particularly scared the defense.
Oklahoma State is making major noise in the transfer portal:
— I talk hoops 🏀 (@trendyhoopstars) April 20, 2026
6’3 Audi Crooks: 25.8 PPG, 7.7 RPG @ Iowa State
5’9 Liv McGill: 22.5 PPG, 6.3 APG @ Florida
6’1 Nene Ndiaye: 14.8 PPG, 5.3 RPG @ Rutgers
6’1 Ellie Brueggemann: 14.0 PPG, 3.1 APG @ Lindenwood
5’6 LA Sneed: 6.3 PPG, 3.3… pic.twitter.com/caq0C2628o
Crooks and McGill aren't the only good offensive players to join this roster. Two other players — Nene Ndiaye from Rutgers and Ellie Brueggemann from Lindenwood — who averaged at least 14 points per game last season, join the roster as well, as does LA Sneed, a guard that I'm personally very high on. This is a very intriguing team.
Can the Cowgirls win the Big 12?
This is the big question. I don't know specific numbers, but I do know that bringing in Crooks and McGill wasn't cheap, and it's clear that you don't spend that kind of money unless you think it can bring you a conference title, at the least. But will it?
Obviously, much depends on how this Cowgirls team meshes, but if there was ever a year to target winning the conference, this is the one.
TCU is coming off a strong run over the last two seasons aided by some huge gets in the portal, but it doesn't look like Mark Campbell's squad will be as strong next season. UNC's Lanie Grant and Oklahoma State's Jadyn Wooten are strong adds, but not to the level of recent transfers like Olivia Miles and Hailey Van Lith.
Baylor looks like the Big 12 favorite at this point after adding Georgia guard Trinity Turner, but something always seems to go awry with the Bears in the Nicki Collen era. Kansas brings back arguably the top duo — or, well, the top duo before Crooks committed to Oklahoma State — in S'Mya Nichols and Jaliya Davis, but there are questions about depth.
The path is there. It's not an easy one, but the fact it exists at all is more than the Cowgirls can say about recent seasons. That likely makes this risky move worth it.
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