Houston's LJ Cryer looks to become first player to win national championship at 2 schools
Houston's LJ Cryer looks to become first player to win national championship at 2 schools
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LJ Cryer, Houston guards preview matchup with Florida's Walter Clayton
Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. is one of the stars in March Madness. Houston's starting guards previewed the matchup ahead of the NCAA final.
Houston basketball's LJ Cryer ends his final season the same way he ended his freshman year: In the national championship game.
The fifth-year senior and leading scorer for the Cougars also has the chance to make history with a record that didn't seem possible prior to the current era of college athletics with the transfer portal and name, image and likeness reigning supreme.
REQUIRED READING: Florida, Houston face battle of wills in March Madness title game that is contrast of styles
Cryer looks to become the first college basketball player ever to win a national championship at two different schools, as Cryer played his first three seasons at Baylor, where he won a national championship in 2021. The 6-foot-1 guard from Katy, Texas, will play a much different role in this national championship than his last, as well.
Cryer played behind future NBA guard Davion Mitchell, Jared Butler, MaCio Teague and Adam Flagler in 2021, appearing late in the championship match against Gonzaga with the game already decided. Now, he's Houston's best scorer and is playing the best basketball at the right time as he looks to lead the Cougars to their first-ever national championship.
Here's everything to know of Cryer and his potential record-breaking night on Monday against Florida:
Players to win national championships at two schools
In the 86 years of the men's NCAA Tournament and the 43 years of the women's NCAA Tournament, no player has won a national championship at two different schools.
Cryer, obviously, has the chance to become the first on Monday. Another interesting note? His first championship was Baylor's first in college basketball ever. His second has the chance to do the same for Houston, should the Cougars win on Monday night.
Cryer won the national championship as a freshman at Baylor in 2021, although he played sparingly. The 6-foot-1 guard averaged 3.9 points per game and 10 minutes per contest. He appeared a total of eight minutes in Baylor's NCAA Tournament run that season, playing a minute against Gonzaga in the national title game.
Cryer emerged into a double-digit scorer in the next two years at Baylor but transferred to Houston ahead of the 2023-24 season. Cryer, from a suburb of Houston in Katy, Texas, has started all 76 of the games he has appeared in with the Cougars, and averaged 15.5 points per game last season before averaging 15.6 this season.
The third-team All-American in 2025 has been sensational in March Madness, headlined by a 26-point performance in Houston's Final Four win over Duke on Saturday. He also dropped 30 points in the second round against Gonzaga.
Duke forward Mason Gillis was close to doing the same, although he finished as the runner-up at Purdue last season before transferring to Duke and falling to Houston in the Final Four in 2025.
Why did LJ Cryer transfer from Baylor to Houston?
Cryer told 247Sports at the time of entering the transfer portal in 2023 that he was looking for a fresh start after a difficult three years at Baylor, despite having plenty of success at the high-major program.
'I am looking for a fresh start,' Cryer told 247Sports. 'My time at Baylor has been a lot of ups and downs. I feel like it is time for me to move on personally and I am just looking for a great fit that will let me play both guard positions.'
Cryer is from the Houston suburb of Katy, Texas. That, paired with Houston losing former standout guard Marcus Sasser, gave him an opening at the successful program that was close to home.
He also told 247Sports that he was recruited by Houston and coach Kelvin Sampson out of high school, mentioning Sasser and Quentin Grimes as guards that went to the Cougars and excelled. He said he also valued a winning program, which Houston certainly is.
LJ Cryer stats
Here are Cryer's season-by-season per-game averages:
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