Boston Globe writer identified as troll in Iowa basketball harassment case

Boston Globe features writer Billy Baker has been identified as the individual behind an online troll profile that directed harassment at a six-year-old Iowa State basketball fan and her family. Baker entered a T-shirt shop in Des Moines, Iowa, claiming to be the user ‘Howard Steves’ to collect a $1,000 reward offered by shop owner Mike Draper.

The incident originated in January 2025 when Des Moines Register reporter Tommy Birch posted a photograph of Iowa State player Audi Crooks with young fan Kamdyn Rebollozo. The image, featuring the child in a custom shirt reading “Smike Like Audi,” attracted severe abuse from anonymous accounts on X, including the profile ‘Howard Steves, GPA’.

Kamdyn’s parents, Emily and Priscilla Rebollozo, investigated the harassment and determined the account was linked to a person in Iowa, specifically a student at the University of Iowa. In response to the ongoing abuse, Raygun T-shirt owner Mike Draper issued a public challenge, offering $1,000 to anyone who could identify themselves as ‘Howard Steves’ in-store.

In April 2025, Baker entered the Raygun store claiming the reward. Although he matched the profile picture of ‘Howard Steves’, he was not a University of Iowa student. Baker was identified as the person whose photograph had been used without his knowledge for the troll account.

Baker subsequently located the actual University of Iowa student who had created the account using his image. This discovery led to apologies and further developments in the case, which has been detailed in a Rolling Stone article by Lyz Lenz and a blog post by Emily Rebollozo. Audi Crooks has since transferred from Iowa State to Oklahoma State.