Houston men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson, graduate guard L.J. Cryer, graduate forward J’Wan Roberts and sophomore forward Joseph Tugler earned 2024-25 All-Big 12 men’s basketball awards alongside junior guard Milos Uzan and redshirt junior guard Emanuel Sharp, the league announced Monday.
Kelvin Sampson, two-time Big 12 Coach of the Year
For the second consecutive season, Sampson was named Big 12 Coach of the Year after leading Houston to consecutive outright regular season titles in its first two seasons in the conference, the first time a program had accomplished this feat since Idaho joined the Pacific Coast Conference and won consecutive titles in 1921-22 and 1922-23.
The award marked Sampson’s 10th conference coach of the year award across five conferences and his sixth with Houston in his 11 seasons with the program.
Sampson led the Cougars to a Big 12 and program single-season record 19 conference wins in the 2024-25 season, amounting to an overall conference record in their first two seasons in the Big 12 of 34-4.
L.J. Cryer, All-Big 12 first team
Cryer, averaging 15.3 points per game and shooting 43.1 percent from 3-point range, was selected to the All-Big 12 first team.
“I feel like winning is what goes into that, and so I thank my teammates for even having the opportunity to be mentioned to be first-team,” Cryer said. “Without winning, you can have all the stats that you want, but you won’t be a first-team player.”
The four-time Big 12 regular season champion, who spent three seasons at Baylor and two at Houston, also became the first program Big 12 Scholar Athlete of the Year recipient as a result of posting a 3.73 GPA at the university.
J’Wan Roberts, All-Big 12 first team
Roberts, as the winningest student-athlete in program history, was named to the All-Big 12 first team alongside teammate Cryer. Houston joined Texas Tech as the only schools with two team members selected for the first team.
“When it comes down to the last second, it’s me being that guy that tries to come through for my team knowing the leader that I am,” Roberts said. “I just have to accept that role, and I’m definitely blessed to be first-team.”
Roberts, who was the fourth Cougar to join the exclusive 1,000 career point, 1,000 career rebound club in program history, was also selected to the All-Big 12 Defensive Team.
Joseph Tugler, Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year
Tugler, with a wingspan of 7-foot-6 and averaging 2.0 blocks per game, became the second consecutive player from Houston to win the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award after guard Jamal Shead won it in Houston’s historic debut season in the conference.
Tugler was also selected to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team and All-Big 12 third team.
“Any award feels good for me,” he said. “I just like winning and doing what I’ve got to do on the court, but I’m glad we’re getting noticed.”
In Houston’s 92-86 double-overtime victory over Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 25, Tugler registered an in-game season-high five blocks.
Other Cougar honors
Other recipients among the No. 2 Cougars include Uzan, who ranks in the top 10 nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio and was selected to the All-Big 12 second team, and Sharp, who was named an All-Big 12 honorable mention with a 90.6 free-throw percentage and a 41.3% average from 3-point range.
The road to San Antonio begins
Houston concluded its 2023-24 regular season on Saturday night with a 65-61 win over in-state rival Baylor at Foster Pavillion in Waco, Texas, to clinch a perfect 10-0 road record on the season and expand their conference road winning streak to 14 games.
Since the Cougars’ 4-3 start in November, they have gone 23-1, with three of their four defeats coming during overtime.
The Cougars, at 27-4 overall, will begin the early parts of the postseason on Thursday, March 13 as the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 conference tournament at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., awaiting the winner of No. 16 Colorado/No. 9 TCU vs. No. 8 West Virginia.
