Shead, Cryer Named to Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Midseason Team

HOUSTON – For their impressive play all season, University of Houston senior guards Jamal Shead and LJ Cryer were named to the Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Midseason Team on Thursday morning.

Houston was one of only four schools nationally with multiple student-athletes named to the Midseason Team. The Cougars joined Purdue, North Carolina and Kansas.

Shead and Cryer have been key leaders for a team which has ranked among the nation's Top-10 teams in both polls all season and is tied for the lead in the latest Big 12 standings, As a backcourt, the Cougar duo averages 27.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 3.3 steals per game while starting all 24 games to date.

Cryer and Shead also lead a Houston defense which leads the country in scoring defense (54.7 ppg), field goal percentage defense (37.1) and turnover margin (+7.4).

These are only the latest midseason honors for Shead and Cryer. Cryer was named to the John R. Wooden Award Late Season Top 25 Watch List and is a Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award Top-10 Candidate while Shead earned a place on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List and was a Top-10 Candidate for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award.

ABOUT JAMAL SHEAD
Shead has been a leader for the Cougars throughout his career and never more so than during the 2023-24 season.

The Manor, Texas, native stands second among the Cougars with 12.7 points per game. Shead also leads Houston and ranks among the Big 12 Top-Five leaders in assists per game (5.8, 3^rd) and steals per game (2.1, 3rd) and tops the league in assist-turnover ratio (3.07.)

Shead is one of only three student-athletes to rank among the nation's Top-40 leaders in assists per game, steals per game AND assist-turnover ratio.

He was named the Big 12 Player of the Week for Jan. 22 after leading the Cougars with 19.5 points, 7.5 assists and 3.0 steals per game in wins at #21/19 BYU and against UCF. The health major became the first Cougar to receive a Big 12 regular-season award in program history.

Shead has scored double-digit points in 16 games, including nine of the last 10. He also dished out 10+ assists in a pair of games this season with a career-high 29-point, 10-assist performance at #21/19 BYU on Jan. 23.

Shead owns a 109-16 record in more than three seasons during his Houston career and needs only one more victory in 2023-24 to become the second-winningest player in school history.

In 2021-22, Shead led Houston to the NCAA Elite Eight and was named to the NCAA Tournament All-Regional Team, becoming only the third sophomore in school history to earn that honor, joining Hakeem Olajuwon (1984) and Elvin Hayes (1968).

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 leads the Cougars and ranks among the Big 12 Top 10 leaders with 14.8 points per game. He also ranks among the league leaders in field goal percentage (39.4, 10^th), 3-point field goal percentage (37.2, 8^th) and 3-point field goals made per game (2.8, 2^nd).

A product of Morton Ranch High School, Cryer tops the Cougars with seven 20-point games, including a season-high 24 points against Montana inside Fertitta Center on Nov. 24, 2023, and at Kansas on Feb. 3.

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 JERSEY MIKE'S NAISMITH TROPHY PLAYER of the YEAR MIDSEASON TEAM

Name	School	Class	Position
LJ Cryer	Houston	Senior	Guard
Jamal Shead	Houston	Senior	Guard
Max Abmas	Texas	Graduate	Guard
Armando Bacot	North Carolina	Graduate	Forward/Center
John Broome	Auburn	Junior	Forward/Center
Boo Buie	Northwestern	Graduate	Guard
Devin Carter	Providence	Junior	Guard
RJ Davis	North Carolina	Senior	Guard
Johnell Davis	Florida Atlantic	Junior	Guard
Hunter Dickinson	Kansas	Senior	Center
Zach Edey	Purdue	Senior	Center
Kyle Filipowski	Duke	Sophomore	Center
PJ Hall	Clemson	Senior	Center
DaRon Holmes	Dayton	Junior	Forward
David Jones	Memphis	Senior	Forward
Dalton Knecht	Tennessee	Fifth Year	Guard
Tyler Kolek	Marquette	Senior	Guard
Jaedon LeDee	San Diego State	Senior	Forward
Tamin Lipsey	Iowa State	Sophomore	Guard
Caleb Love	Arizona	Senior	Guard
Kevin McCullar Jr.	Kansas	Senior	Guard
Tristen Newton	UConn	Graduate	Guard
Antonio Reeves	Kentucky	Fifth Year	Guard
Baylor Scheierman	Creighton	Senior	Guard
Mark Sears	Alabama	Senior	Guard
KJ Simpson	Colorado	Junior	Guard
Braden Smith	Purdue	Sophomore	Guard
Isaiah Stevens	Colorado State	Graduate	Guard
Wade Taylor IV	Texas A&M	Junior	Guard
Tyson Walker	Michigan State	Graduate	Guard

UP NEXT
• Shead, Cryer and the Cougars meet rv/rv Texas for the second time in 2023-24 when they host the Longhorns inside Fertitta Center at Noon, Saturday, Feb. 17. That game will air on CBS.
• The Cougars continue their homestand when they face #10/10 Iowa State for the second time this season inside Fertitta Center in Houston at 6 p.m., Monday, Feb. 19. That game will air on ESPNU.
• From there, the Cougars take on #13/13 Baylor at 11 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 24, in Waco, Texas. That game will air on CBS.
• 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.

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