Houston Legend Honored After Win Against Baylor
In this story:
The Houston Cougars are in the final stretch of the 2026 season, looking to lock down one of the top 16 seeds in the country as the calendar flips to the annual March Madness tournament.
In their latest game, a 77-64 victory over the Baylor Bears, the Cougars improved their conference record against the Bears to 5-0, got a much-needed victory as the season winds down, and honored a member of the 2025 National Runner-Up team from last season.
LJ Cryer, a guard for the Cougars and an instrumental part of their success this past season, was honored with his Big 12 Championship and Final Four ring for his contributions during one of the school's best runs in program history.
Leaving With Hardware
It was a special night for Cryer, who was the final member of the 2025 team to receive his rings for the conference championship and their appearance in the national championship. Perhaps it was even more of a bittersweet moment since the team the Cougars were playing was the Bears, with whom Cryer began his collegiate career for three seasons before transferring to play under head coach Kelvin Sampson.
In two seasons with the Cougars, Cryer played in 77 games, including all 40 games of their national championship run last season. During his career with the Cougars, though, he finished with a field goal percentage of .411, 75 steals, 150 assists, 185 rebounds, and an average of 15.6 points per game.
Former Cougar LJ Cryer was presented his Big 12 championship/Final Four ring after tonight’s game pic.twitter.com/FElDJxdqMO
— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) March 5, 2026
He played some of his best basketball of the season when the Cougars began their run in the NCAA Tournament, averaging 18.6 points per game over the six-game span. That included two games in which he finished with more than 25 points, including 30 against Gonzaga and 26 against Duke.
Despite an extremely productive collegiate career spanning two colleges and one National Championship during his time with the Bears, he would not be selected in the NBA Draft. He would join the Golden State Warriors for the 2025 NBA Summer League, signing an Exhibit 10 contract at the end of June.
Cryer would be waived from the Warriors in October, but would be added back to the training camp roster for the team's G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors. He would sign a two-way contract with them at the beginning of December.
While only seeing limited playing time in the NBA, playing in just three games this season, Cryer was able to come back to Houston to finally earn his well-deserved ring for his efforts with the Cougars this past season.
