LJ Cryer Earns Place among Wooden Award Late Season Top 20

HOUSTON – University of Houston senior guard LJ Cryer added another honor to his trophy case Tuesday when he was named to the Wooden Award presented by Principal Late 20 Top 20 Watch List as announced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club on ESPN2.

Earlier in the day, Cryer was named one of the Top 10 Candidates for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award, presented by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts based on their performances during the 2023-24 season thus far, the Wooden Award Watch List comprises 20 student-athletes who are front-runners for the sport's most prestigious honor.

The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2024 John R. Wooden Award Player of the Year presented by Principal. Players not chosen to the late season 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 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. The winner of the 2024 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Principal following the NCAA Tournament in April.

ABOUT LJ CRYER
Cryer is in his first season at Houston in 2023-24 after transferring from Baylor during the summer.

The Katy, Texas, native has started all 21 games to date this season and leads the Cougars and ranks among the Big 12 Top 10 with 15.1 points per game. He also ranks among the league leaders in field goal percentage (40.0), 3-point field goal percentage (37.8) and 3-point field goals made per game (3.0).

A product of Morton Ranch High School, Cryer tops the Cougars with six 20-point games, including a season-high 24 points against Montana inside Fertitta Center on Nov. 24, 2023.

Averaging 16.7 points, 3.7 3-pointers and 2.7 rebounds per game in wins over Towson, Utah and Dayton, Cryer was named the Most Valuable Player at the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic in November and was named to midseason watch lists for the John R. Wooden Award and the Lute Olson Award.

Cryer earned 2022-23 All-Big 12 and USBWA All-District VII Team recognition at Baylor after averaging 15.0 points per game while hitting 45.3 percent (163-of-360) from the field, including 41.5 percent (80-of-193) from behind the arc.

The Katy, Texas, native set Baylor's NCAA Tournament scoring record with 30 points against rv/#22 Creighton and posted the program's single-season free throw percentage record at 89.4 percent (59-of-66).

As a freshman, Cryer competed in 20 games while helping lead the Bears to the Big 12 title and the NCAA national championship.

Cryer was an award-winning star at Morton Ranch High School, where he finished his career with 3,488 points, the fifth-highest total in Texas public school history. He was named to the TABC Class 6A All-State Team and was tabbed 2020 All-Greater Houston Basketball Player of the Year by the Houston Chronicle.

2023-24 JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD presented by PRINCIPAL LATE-SEASON TOP 20 WATCH LIST

Name	School	Height	Class	Position	Conference
LJ Cryer	Houston	6-1	Senior	Guard	Big 12
Armando Bacot	North Carolina	6-11	Senior	Forward/Center	ACC
Johni Broome	Auburn	6-10	Junior	Forward/Center	SEC
Johnell Davis	Florida Atlantic	6-4	Junior	Guard	American Athletic
RJ Davis	North Carolina	6-0	Senior	Guard	ACC
Hunter Dickinson	Kansas	7-2	Senior	Center	Big 12
Zach Edey	Purdue	7-4	Senior	Center	Big Ten
Kyle Filipowski	Duke	7-0	Sophomore	Center	ACC
PJ Hall	Clemson	6-10	Senior	Center	ACC
DaRon Holmes II	Dayton	6-10	Junior	Forward	Atlantic 10
David Jones	Memphis	6-6	Senior	Forward	American Athletic
Dalton Knecht	Tennessee	6-6	Senior	Guard	SEC
Tyler Kolek	Marquette	6-3	Senior	Guard	Big East
Jaedon LeDee	San Diego State	6-9	Senior	Forward	Mountain West
Caleb Love	Arizona	6-4	Senior	Guard	Pac-12
Kevin McCullar Jr.	Kansas	6-7	Senior	Guard	Big 12
Tristen Newton	UConn	6-5	Senior	Guard	Big East
Antonio Reeves	Kentucky	6-6	Senior	Guard	SEC
Baylor Scheierman	Creighton	6-7	Senior	Guard	Big East
KJ Simpson	Colorado	6-2	Junior	Guard	Pac-12

UP NEXT
• Cryer and the Cougars open the month of February when they meet #8/9 Kansas at 3 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 3, inside Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan. That game can be seen on ESPN.
• From there, the Cougars return to Fertitta Center to host Oklahoma State at 6 p.m., Feb. 6. That game will air on ESPN or ESPN2.
• All Houston Men's Basketball games can be heard on 950 AM KPRC and the Varsity Network app.

SUPPORT YOUR COOGS
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of Houston Men's Basketball by supporting Linking Coogs – UH's NIL collective, giving to Houston Rise and by joining the 50-50 Club, which provides financial support directly to Houston Men's Basketball for needs beyond its operating budget.

Fans who join the 50-50 Club will receive embroidered Jordan Brand team apparel, invitations to exclusive events, regular updates about the program and much more.

STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougarMBK on X, formerly known as Twitter, and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at UHCougarMBK or by visiting the team's Instagram page at UHCougarMBK.

ABOUT the JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD
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 one million dollars 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.

For up-to-date information on the Wooden Award, please go to WoodenAward.com and follow the Wooden Award on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

– UHCougars.com –

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