Lionel "LJ" Cryer Jr. (born October 9, 2001) is an American college basketball player for the

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education instr ...

of the Big 12 Conference.

High school career

Cryer played basketball for Morton Ranch High School in Katy, Texas. As a junior, he averaged 27.5 points, 5.8 assists, and 2.9 rebounds per game, earning District 19-6A MVP honors. In the regular season finale of his senior season, Cryer had a 50-point, 10-assist game against

Mayde Creek High School Mayde Creek High School (MCHS) is a public high school located on Groschke Road in unincorporated area, unincorporated Harris County, Texas, Harris County, Texas, and is part of the Katy Independent School District. Mayde Creek serves the portio ...

. In his senior season, Cryer averaged 34.2 points, 5.3 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game. He finished with 3,488 career points, the most in Houston area public school history. Cryer was selected as All- Greater Houston Player of the Year by the '' Houston Chronicle'', and repeated as District 19-6A MVP. A four-star recruit, he committed to playing college basketball for Baylor over offers from Houston, Colorado, LSU,

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

and Stephen F. Austin, among others.

College career

Cryer received limited playing time as a freshman at Baylor, averaging 3.4 points per game as his team won the national championship. On November 20, 2021, he scored 21 points in an 86–48 victory against

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

. On January 29, 2022, Cryer was ruled out after aggravating a right foot injury. He averaged 13.5 points, 1.7 assists and 1.5 rebounds per game. As a junior, Cryer was named to the Third Team All-Big 12.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2020–21 , style="text-align:left;", Baylor , 20 , , 0 , , 10.0 , , .382 , , .364 , , .643 , , .6 , , .8 , , .5 , , .0 , , 3.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;", Baylor , 19 , , 3 , , 25.9 , , .476 , , .468 , , .778 , , 1.5 , , 1.7 , , .8 , , .1 , , 13.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;", Baylor , 31 , , 31 , , 32.3 , , .453 , , .415 , , .894 , , 2.1 , , 2.1 , , .5 , , .0 , , 15.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , style="text-align:left;", Houston , 37 , , 37 , , 32.1 , , .411 , , .388 , , .871 , , 2.4 , , 1.9 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 15.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 107 , , 71 , , 26.9 , , .434 , , .408 , , .844 , , 1.8 , , 1.7 , , .7 , , .1 , , 12.7

Personal life

Cryer's father, Lionel Sr., played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

as a linebacker for

Grambling State Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage ...

. His younger brother, Justin, played the same position at Royal High School in Brookshire, Texas, where his father served as

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

References

External links

Baylor Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cryer, LJ 2001 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Harris County, Texas Baylor Bears men's basketball players Houston Cougars men's basketball players Point guards Sportspeople from Katy, Texas