Addy Brown's fiery competitiveness fuels No. 14 Iowa State

AMES — Several elements of Addy Brown’s game stood out to Iowa State women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly when he watched her play on the AAU circuit.

But one proved to be paramount, towering over the others.

“Competitive,” Fennelly said during the No. 14 Cyclones’ media day on Thursday at the Sukup Basketball Complex.

That mentality has powered the 6-foot-2 junior star her entire life. So much so that when she was younger, her grandma sat her down and shared some words of wisdom.

“She always told me I needed to learn how to lose,” said Brown, who joins preseason Big 12 player of the year Audi Crooks to form an imposing front court duo for ISU. “I just couldn’t ever do it.”

Brown’s fiery on-court style fuels a 2025-26 Cyclone team Fennelly described as “incredible” in terms of its connectedness. Playmaking transfer point guard Jada Williams replaces Emily Ryan at point guard, but the latter — one of ISU’s all-time best players — now serves as a graduate assistant.

“What I told Jada and (freshman point guard) Reese (Beaty) was, every minute, every second, you can, stand next to Emily Ryan and learn,” Fennelly said of his program’s all-time leader in assists (993) and free throw percentage (88.5). “Learn how we do things, and learn how successful people do things and learn how to play with Addy and Audi and the other guys.”

Crooks’ and Brown’s potent two-pronged production speaks for itself. The former averaged a Big 12-best 23.4 points per game last season while breaking single-season program records for scoring (820 points) and made field goals (329). The latter narrowly missed recording a triple-double on several occasions, and averaged 15.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists.

“Those two together are a dynamic duo,” said Williams, who averaged 12.7 points and 2.9 assists for Arizona last season. “Being a point guard and having those options is something that every point guard dreams of, so I’m super-excited.”

The feeling’s mutual. Fennelly said Williams is unlike any point guard who’s been in his program — and he’s entering his 31st season at the helm.

“Her ability to go downhill with the ball and her ability to guard the ball is the best we’ve ever had here,” Fennelly said. “Now, whether that translates into other things, is, ‘We’ll see.’ But she’s really hard to guard and our scout team guys do not like it when she’s guarding them, so I guess that would be the biggest compliment they’d pay to her.”

The biggest plaudit Brown receives hinges on her hate-to-lose approach to the game — and any game, really.

“She likes to win, man,” said Crooks, a third-team All-American for the Cyclones last season. “She doesn’t like to lose at Uno, at Wii Sports, at basketball, so she’s definitely a competitor day in and day out. She shows it on her face. She’s aggressive. She’s passionate, and it just kind of brings some fun and some spunk to the game.”

It’s also rubbed off on Crooks, who often faces double- and triple-teams in the post.

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“People kind of know me as the girl who smiles a lot,” she said. “So this last year, I think I smiled a little bit less, and got competitive a little bit more, so it’s starting to come out more.”

It’s always on full display with Brown, who hopes to help lead ISU to a Big 12 title and a deeper NCAA tournament run than last season’s, which ended in the first round.

“It doesn’t really matter what your rankings are now,” she said. “It matters what you do in March, so that’s our goal.”

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