LJ Cryer, J'Wan Roberts Named to John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watch List

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POSTED: November 8, 2024 -- 5:31 a.m. CT

Houston graduate stars LJ Cryer and J'Wan Roberts collected additional preseason honors when they were named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watch List on Thursday afternoon.

Roberts and Cryer were two of 50 student-athletes from NCAA Division I schools across the nation to be named to the list, which was chosen in a preseason poll by national college basketball experts.

Of the 50 players on the preseason list, 41 are upperclassmen, including 22 seniors & 19 juniors, and two are graduate students. Two sophomores were named to the list and the recent trend of recognizing outstanding freshmen continues with five named to the Preseason Top 50.

The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2025 John R. Wooden Award® Men's Player of the Year. Players not chosen to the preseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award® midseason list, late season list, and the 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 Tournament 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 2025 John R. Wooden Award®, presented by Principal, will be presented at the Los Angeles Athletic Club in April.

Houston was one of eight schools with multiple student-athletes named to the list, joining Kansas (4), Baylor (3), Alabama (3), Rutgers (2), Gonzaga (2), UConn (2) and Duke (2).

These were the latest preseason honors for Roberts and Cryer. Both were named to the Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Watch List presented by Axia Time and were selected as Preseason All-Americans by Blue Ribbon College Yearbook with Roberts receiving Third-Team recognition and Cryer receiving Fourth-Team accolades.

Both also were named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Conference First Team, making Houston the only school with multiple honorees.

Roberts was named to the Karl Malone Award Top 20 Preseason Watch List with that honor going to the nation's top collegiate power forward.

Cryer was one of 20 student-athletes named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Player of the Year Preseason Watch List and was named to the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List.

Roberts has been a leader in Houston's frontcourt for 4 plus years.

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 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, Cryer led Houston and finished fifth in the Big 12 with 15.5 points per game.

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.

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