Cryer & Roberts Earn Places on Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Watch List

HOUSTON – University of Houston graduate guard LJ Cryer and graduate forward J'Wan Roberts received more preseason awards when they were named to the Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Watch List presented by Axia Time on Wednesday.

Cryer also was one of 20 student-athletes from all NCAA Division I schools to be named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Player of the Year Preseason Watch List on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, Cryer earned a place on the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List. He also was named a Preseason All-America Fourth-Team selection by Blue Ribbon College Yearbook and joined Roberts on the Preseason All-Big 12 Conference First-Team.

Houston was one of eight schools with multiple student-athletes on the Watch List, joining Rutgers (2), Duke (2), Gonzaga (2), UConn (2), Alabama (2) and Big 12 Conference-rivals Kansas (3) and Baylor (3).

ABOUT J'WAN ROBERTS
A four-year letterman, Roberts has been a leader in the Houston frontcourt for years. With Thursday's announcement, he collected the first preseason conference honor of his career.

The St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, native led Houston and finished sixth in the Big 12 with 6.8 rebounds per game and was one of only three student-athletes to rank among the league's Top-10 leaders in both offensive and defensive rebounding.

Roberts tallied four double-doubles and led the Cougars with six double-digit rebounding performances on the way to receiving All-Big 12 Third-Team honors.

As he enters the 2024-25 season, Roberts ranks among Houston's Top-10 career leaders in wins, games played and rebounds and is poised to set school records in the first two categories.

He is also tied for the school record with 63 wins inside Fertitta Center and could become only the fourth student-athlete in Houston history to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds during his career.

LJ Cryer, Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Watch List

LJ Cryer, Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Watch List

ABOUT LJ CRYER
Competing in his first season with the Cougars a year ago, Cryer led Houston and finished fifth in the Big 12 with 15.5 points per game. This was the second straight season in which he has named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team.

The Katy, Texas, native was one of only three Cougars to start all 37 games in 2023-24 and led Houston and the league with 3.0 3-point field goals per game.

Cryer paced Houston with 13 20-point games and 27 double-digit performances, including a season-high 26 points against rv/– Texas inside Fertitta Center on Feb. 17.

For his impressive efforts, Cryer was named an All-America Honorable Mention by the United States Basketball Writers Association and was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team by the league and the Associated Press.

Cryer also received National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 8 Second-Team recognition and was named the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic Most Valuable Player.

2024-25 JERSEY MIKE'S NAISMITH TROPHY PLAYER of the YEAR WATCH LIST presented by AXIA TIME

Name	Class	Position	School	Conference
LJ Cryer	Graduate	G	Houston	Big 12
J'Wan Roberts	Graduate	F	Houston	Big 12
Robbie Avila	Junior	C	Saint Louis	Atlantic 10
Airious "Ace" Bailey	Freshman	G/F	Rutgers	Big Ten
Adiran "Ace" Baldwin Jr.	Graduate	G	Penn State	Big Ten
Oumar Ballo	Senior	C	Indiana	Big Ten
Johni Broome	Senior	F/C	Auburn	SEC
Markus Burton	Sophomore	G	Notre Dame	ACC
Walter Clayton Jr.	Senior	G	Florida	SEC
RJ Davis	Graduate	G	North Carolina	ACC
Johnell Davis	Senior	G	Arkansas	SEC
Tyson Degenhart	Senior	F	Boise State	Mountain West
Tucker DeVries	Senior	G/F	West Virginia	Big 12
Hunter Dickinson	Graduate	C	Kansas	Big 12
Eric Dixon	Graduate	F	Villanova	Big East
VJ Edgecombe	Freshman	G	Baylor	Big 12
Cooper Flagg	Freshman	G/F	Duke	ACC
Dawson Garcia	Senior	F	Minnesota	Big Ten
Tyon Grant-Foster	Graduate	G	Grand Canyon	WAC
Dylan Harper	Freshman	G	Rutgers	Big Ten
Dajuan Harris Jr	Graduate	G	Kansas	Big 12
Coleman Hawkins	Senior	W	Kansas State	Big 12
Bryce Hopkins	Senior	F/G	Providence	Big East
Graham Ike	Senior	F	Gonzaga	West Coast
Tre Johnson	Freshman	C	Texas	SEC
Kam Jones	Senior	G	Marquette	Big East
Ryan Kalkbrenner	Senior	C	Creighton	Big East
Alex Karaban	Junior	F	UConn	Big East
Kon Knueppel	Freshman	G/F	Duke	ACC
Yaxel Lendeborg	Senior	F	UAB	American Athletic
Tamin Lipsey	Junior	G	Iowa State	Big 12
Caleb Love	Fifth Year	G	Arizona	Big 12
Liam McNeeley	Freshman	F	UConn	Big East
Matthew Murrell	Senior	G	Mississippi	SEC
Grant Nelson	Graduate	F	Alabama	SEC
Ryan Nembhard	Senior	G	Gonzaga	West Coast
Norchad Omier	Fifth Year	F	Baylor	Big 12
Great Osobor	Senior	F	Washington	Big Ten
Kadary Richmond	Graduate	G	St. John's	Big East
Jeremy Roach	Fifth Year	G	Baylor	Big 12
Jaxson Robinson	Graduate	G	Kentucky	SEC
Hunter Sallis	Senior	G	Wake Forest	ACC
Payton Sandfort	Senior	F	Iowa	Big Ten
Mark Sears	Graduate	G	Alabama	SEC
Jackson Shelstad	Sophomore	G	Oregon	Big Ten
Braden Smith	Junior	G	Purdue	Big Ten
AJ Storr	Junior	G	Kansas	Big 12
Wade Taylor IV	Graduate	G	Texas A&M	SEC
Bruce Thornton	Junior	G	Ohio State	Big Ten
Zakai Zeigler	Senior	G	Tennessee	SEC

2024-25 NABC PLAYER of the YEAR WATCH LIST

Name	Class	Position	School	Conference
LJ Cryer	Graduate	G	Houston	Big 12
Robbie Avila	Junior	C	Saint Louis	Atlantic 10
Airious "Ace" Bailey	Freshman	G/F	Rutgers	Big Ten
Oumar Ballo	Senior	C	Indiana	Big Ten
Johni Broome	Senior	F/C	Auburn	SEC
Johnell Davis	Senior	G	Arkansas	SEC
RJ Davis	Graduate	G	North Carolina	ACC
Hunter Dickinson	Graduate	C	Kansas	Big 12
Cooper Flagg	Freshman	G/F	Duke	ACC
Graham Ike	Senior	F	Gonzaga	West Coast
Kam Jones	Senior	G	Marquette	Big East
Ryan Kalkbrenner	Senior	C	Creighton	Big East
Alex Karaban	Junior	F	UConn	Big East
Tamin Lipsey	Junior	G	Iowa State	Big 12
Caleb Love	Fifth Year	G	Arizona	Big 12
Norchad Omier	Fifth Year	F	Baylor	Big 12
Kadary Richmond	Graduate	G	St. John's	Big East
Hunter Sallis	Senior	G	Wake Forest	ACC
Mark Sears	Graduate	G	Alabama	SEC
Braden Smith	Junior	G	Purdue	Big Ten
Wade Taylor IV	Graduate	G	Texas A&M	SEC

BUY 2024-25 TICKETS
Non-season ticket holders interested in purchasing season tickets are invited to place their names on the Season Ticket Wait List by clicking here.

UP NEXT
Cryer, Roberts and the Cougars open their regular season when they play host to Jackson State at 7 p.m., Monday, inside Fertitta Center.

From there, Houston meets #11/11 Auburn during the Mattress Firm Battleground 2k24 inside Toyota Center on Nov. 9. The Cougars will be the second game of a doubleheader inside Toyota Center in downtown Houston beginning at 8:30 p.m., with Rice facing Florida State in 6 p.m., in the first game.

Fans can purchase tickets for the Mattress Firm Battleground 2k24 by clicking here.

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 – 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.

– UHCougars.com –

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