By Brenda June Temple
1/10/2024
Senior guard leads Big 12 in 3-pointers per game, leads Cougars in scoring
HOUSTON – University of Houston senior guard LJ Cryer was one of 25 student-athletes from across the nation named to the John R. Wooden Award presented by Principal Midseason Top 25 Watch List by the Los Angeles Athletic Club on ESPN2 on Wednesday evening.
The list was chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts based on their performances during the 2023-24 season and comprises the front-runners for the prestigious honor.
ABOUT LJ CRYER
Cryer is in his first season at Houston in 2023-24 after transferring from Baylor during the summer. Named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team, the Katy, Texas, native and Morton Ranch High School product has lived up to the hype.
Under the leadership of Head Coach Kelvin Sampson, the Cougars reeled off 14 straight wins to open the season, making the 2023-24 squad only the third team in school history to accomplish that feat, and have been ranked in the Top Five of both national polls for six straight weeks.
Cryer leads the Cougars and ranks seventh in the league with 16.3 points per game and has scored in double digits in all but two contests.
He leads Houston with five 20-point games this season and scored a season-high 24 points in a home win over Montana inside Fertitta Center.
Cryer also leads the Big 12 with 3.1 3-pointers per game and has drained at least one trey in all 15 games to date, including three straight games with a season-high five 3-pointers in wins over Montana, at Xavier and against Rice.
He received Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic Most Valuable Player honors after leading Houston with 16.7 points per game in wins over Towson, Dayton and Utah.
Prior to the season, Cryer was a member of the Wooden Award Preseason Watch List, Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List and the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Watch List.
2023-24 JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD presented by PRINCIPAL MIDSEASON TOP 25 WATCH LIST
| Name | School | Conference | Height | Class | Position |
| LJ Cryer | Houston | Big 12 | 6-0 | Senior | Guard |
| Max Abmas | Texas | Big 12 | 6-1 | Senior | Guard |
| Armando Bacot | North Carolina | ACC | 6-11 | Senior | Forward/Center |
| Johnell Davis | Florida Atlantic | American Athletic | 6-4 | Junior | Guard |
| RJ Davis | North Carolina | ACC | 6-0 | Senior | Guard |
| Hunter Dickinson | Kansas | Big 12 | 7-2 | Senior | Center |
| Zach Edey | Purdue | Big Ten | 7-4 | Senior | Center |
| Kyle Filipowski | Duke | ACC | 7-0 | Sophomore | Center |
| PJ Hall | Clemson | ACC | 6-10 | Senior | Center |
| David Jones | Memphis | American Athletic | 6-6 | Senior | Forward |
| Dalton Knecht | Tennessee | SEC | 6-6 | Senior | Guard |
| Tyler Kolek | Marquette | Big East | 6-3 | Senior | Guard |
| Jaedon LeDee | San Diego State | Mountain West | 6-3 | Senior | Guard |
| Caleb Love | Arizona | Pac-12 | 6-4 | Senior | Guard |
| Kevin McCullar Jr. | Kansas | Big 12 | 6-7 | Senior | Guard |
| Tristen Newton | UConn | Big East | 6-5 | Senior | Guard |
| Antonio Reeves | Kentucky | SEC | 6-6 | Senior | Guard |
| Baylor Scheierman | Creighton | Big East | 6-7 | Senior | Guard |
| Mark Sears | Alabama | SEC | 6-1 | Senior | Guard |
| Reed Sheppard | Kentucky | SEC | 6-3 | Freshman | Guard |
| KJ Simpson | Colorado | Pac-12 | 6-2 | Junior | Guard |
| Isaiah Stevens | Colorado State | Mountain West | 6-0 | Senior | Guard |
| Wade Taylor IV | Texas A&M | SEC | 6-0 | Junior | Guard |
| Tyson Walker | Michigan State | Big Ten | 6-1 | Senior | Guard |
| Ja’Kobe Walter | Baylor | Big 12 | 6-5 | Freshman | Guard |
UP NEXT
• Cryer and the Coogs return to action when they face rv/rv TCU at 5 p.m., Saturday, inside Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. Fans should note the 5 p.m., tipoff time from earlier published schedules.
• That game will air on ESPN and can be heard on 950 AM KPRC and the Varsity Network app.
ABOUT the JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD
The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2024 John R. Wooden Award Men’s Player of the Year presented by Principal. Players not chosen to the preseason or midseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award™ National Ballot.
The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games.
The Wooden Award All American Team™ will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2024 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Principal following the NCAA Tournament in April.
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award Program hosts the most prestigious honors in college basketball recognizing The Wooden Award Most Outstanding Player for men and women, The Wooden Award All America Teams for men and women and the annual selection of the Wooden Award Legend of Coaching recipient. Honorees have proven to their university that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the John R. Wooden Award as set forth by Coach Wooden and the Wooden Award Steering Committee, including making progress towards graduation and maintaining at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly $1 million to the universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the Wooden Award All-American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps.
Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament brings together Special Olympics athletes and Wooden Award All Americans and coaches in attendance. It is hosted at the Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award Weekend.
The Legends of Coaching Award presented by Principal will be presented to University of Kentucky coach John Calipari, along with the Wooden Award Men’s and Women’s Players of the Year on April 12, 2024. For up-to-date information on the Wooden Award, please go to www.woodenaward.com and follow the Wooden Award on Facebook at www.facebook.com/woodenaward and @WoodenAward on Twitter and Instagram.
STAY CONNECTED
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