SAN ANTONIO — Just one night after Baylor swept aside previously undefeated Gonzaga to win its first national title four years ago, freshman L.J. Cryer was right back in the gym with a shot at his game.He couldn’t bear another season as a fringe rotation player who logged a few minutes one night and didn’t leave the bench the next.
Cryer arrived at Baylor at a time when the Bears were loaded with top-tier backcourt talent. Jared Butler, Davion Mitchell, Maceo Teague and Adam Flagler were the four leading scorers on a team that had lost just two games all season and hadn’t allowed a single NCAA Tournament opponent to finish within nine points.
Four years after that humbling experience, Cryer is back in the national title game with a chance to make history. The Houston guard will become the first male or female Division I college basketball player to win
Where Cryer didn’t test out in the 2021 title game until the outcome was decided, he will play a completely different role Monday night against Florida. Cryer is Houston’s leading scorer and most feared perimeter shooter, the kind of guy coaches plan to avoid beating up on opposing players.
Cryer is averaging 15.6 points per game. His elite 42.7% shooting from behind the arc is slightly higher than his shooting from inside it. The fifth-year senior had 26 points against long, athletic Duke on Saturday night, keeping Houston within striking distance until its top-notch defense finally imposed its will and staged a stunning comeback from a 14-point deficit.
How did Cryer go from being a healthy scratch in 10 games as a Baylor freshman to falling 6-3 to Duke in the national semifinals? The work ethic he’s built up since childhood is a big part of it.
When he went off to college, I started doing it on my own with my dad Cryer. “When I was in high school, I would shoot at 6 a.m. before school opened.
Cryer’s addition is needed offensive punch in a Houston program known for its relentless defense and rebounding. He would have helped the Cougars reach last year’s Final Four if not for untimely injuries to forward JoJo Tugler and point guard Jamal Shedd.This year, he led Houston to Sampson’s first national championship win despite an obstacle-filled path. The Cougars had to overcome a second-round matchup against a Gonzaga team ranked in the top 10 by most predictive metrics. Then came virtual road games against Purdue and Tennessee in Indianapolis. Now Houston has to top two fellow No. 1 seeds here in San Antonio.
What would it mean for Cryer to win a second national championship on Monday night? He admits the second would mean even more than the first. For the first time, Cryer has The fifth guard on a team that often plays only four. This time, it will be hard for Houston to take him off the court.
Golden has faced and defeated Burns, John Calipari, Bruce Pearl, Nat Oates and Dan Hurley this season. Sampson stands as his last big challenge. On a personal level, this may be his toughest job. It’s only fitting that it will be played at a national championship level.
A little underrated, as hard as it is to believe, Golden said of Sampson’s career. “He’s been around a little longer than me. Competing against him (Monday) is going to be a big challenge for me.”
He’s just an amazing coach,” Golden said. “That’s the biggest challenge. He’s done it at an incredibly high level for a long, long time, in a lot of different places. Coach Sampson and the Houston program are definitely one of the toughest programs in America. They’ve been doing it for a long time.”
