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Houston Cougars Picked to Finish Second in Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll; J'Wan Roberts, LJ Cryer Named to Preseason First Team

POSTED: October 10, 2024 -- 3:27 p.m. CT

The Houston Cougars Men's Basketball program was picked to finish second in the Preseason Big 12 Conference Coaches Poll with graduate stars J'Wan Roberts and LJ Cryer earning players on the Preseason All-Big 12 First Team, the league announced Thursday.

Under the leadership of National and Big 12 Coach of the Year Kelvin Sampson, the Cougars received 211 points and five first-place votes in the poll, which was voted on by the league's head coaches.

This marked the sixth consecutive season in which Houston was tabbed among the Top Two in its conference preseason poll. The Cougars were picked as favorites in each of their final four seasons in the American Athletic Conference.

Kansas held a slim advantage for the top spot in the preseason poll with 215 points and nine first-place votes. Iowa State and Arizona each received one first-place vote.

A four-year letterman, J'Wan 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.

Competing in his first season with the Cougars a year ago, LJ 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, TX, 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 Big 12 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll

Rank	Team (First-place votes)	Points
1.	Kansas (9)	215
2.	Houston (5)	211
3.	Iowa State (1)	194
4.	Baylor	185
5.	Arizona (1)	179
6.	Cincinnati	140
7.	Texas Tech	135
8.	Kansas State	133
9.	BYU	116
10.	TCU	90
11.	UCF	83
12.	Arizona State	64
13.	West Virginia	62
14.	Oklahoma State	46
15.	Colorado	37
16.	Utah	30

2024-25 Preseason Player of the Year: Hunter Dickinson, Kansas

2024-25 Preseason Co-Newcomers of the Year: Jeremy Roach, Baylor and Coleman Hawkins, K-State

2024-25 Preseason Freshman of the Year: VJ Edgecombe, Baylor

2024-25 Preseason All-Big 12 First Team

Caleb Love, Arizona

LJ Cryer, Houston

J'Wan Roberts, Houston

Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State

Hunter Dickinson, Kansas*

*- Indicates unanimous pick. Players are sorted alphabetically by school.

2024-25 Preseason All-Big 12 Second Team

Norchad Omier, Baylor

Jeremy Roach, Baylor

Keshon Gilbert, Iowa State

Dajuan Harris Jr., Kansas

Coleman Hawkins, K-State

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