Former Iowa preps make USA Basketball team

Former Iowa high school girls basketball standouts Audi Crooks and Hannah Stuelke were among those selected to represent the United States at the upcoming 2025 FIBA Women's AmeriCup.

Crooks, a current Iowa State Cyclone, and Stuelke, who plays for the Iowa Hawkeyes, will be joined on the 2025 USA Women's AmeriCup Team by Raegan Beers, Mikayla Blakes, Madison Booker, Joyce Edwards, Hannah Hidalgo, Flau'jae Johnson, Gianna Kneepkens, Olivia Miles, Kennedy Smith and Grace VanSlooten.

The team will head to Santiago, Chile to play games June 28-July 6. 

Both Crooks and Stuelke will be making their USA Basketball debuts. Coaches for the team are Kara Lawson of Duke, DeLisha Milton-Jones from Old Dominion and Jennie Baranczyk of Oklahoma.

The USA will play in Group B along with the host nation Chile, Colombia, Puerto Rico and Mexico. The winner of the FIBA Women's AmeriCup earns a bid to the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup, which will be held next summer in Berlin.

Crooks, a native of Algona who led Bishop Garrigan High School to back-to-back state championships, is coming off a sophomore season in which she averaged 23.4 points per game and 7.5 rebounds while shooting nearly 61 percent from the field. She scored 28 points in a loss to Michigan in the NCAA Tournament after posting 27 in a First Four round victory over Princeton.

Stuelke, who was the Gatorade Iowa Girls Basketball Player of the Year while competing for Cedar Rapids Washington, posted nearly 13 points and eight rebounds per game as a junior for the Hawkeyes. She scored in double figures in both NCAA Tournament games, adding 10 rebounds and four assists.