2 weeks Ago By Gilbert McGregor
History can be made in more ways than one at the 2025 Final Four. As the Houston Cougars look to win the first men's title in program history, their star player looks to do something that has never been done before. Houston graduate student LJ Cryer is no stranger to the Final Four, as he returns to college basketball's biggest stage after making it in 2021.
And while Houston was present at the 2021 Final Four, Cryer was actually a freshman on the Baylor team that defeated Houston in the semifinals before defeating Gonzaga in the national title game. After seeing just three minutes of playing time during his last Final Four appearance, Cryer will play a much larger role this time around. 📲 Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp Cryer has one title under his belt as a 19-year-old role player.
Now, he'll look to put a bow on his career by winning a title as the 23-year-old star of a different program. The odds of Cryer making it to this point with one school are low, let alone doing it with another. But has it been done before? Here is a closer look at the history of multi-time national championship winners.
SN's MARCH MADNESS HQ: Live NCAA bracket | TV schedule | Printable PDF Who is the first player to win NCAA championships with two teams? No men's basketball player has won NCAA championships with more than one team. Cryer is one of four players to make the Final Four with multiple schools, another being Duke forward Mason Gillis, who played in the 2024 Final Four with Purdue. Cryer and Gillis will meet in the national semifinal game.
Why did LJ Cryer transfer from Baylor? Cryer transferred from Baylor to receive a fresh start and play both backcourt positions. "I am looking for a fresh start," Cryer told 247Sports in 2023 . "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.” In his third and final season at Baylor, Cryer averaged 15.0 points, 2.
1 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game but did so playing mostly off the ball. With the Bears signing another blue-chip point guard to join the team in 2023-24, Cryer looked elsewhere for an opportunity to lead the offense.
Cryer, a native of the Houston suburb of Katy, Texas, chose his hometown school on April 9, 2023. He had this to say of his choice: "Playing for the University of Houston means so much more to me. I'm going to wear that Houston name with pride.
It gives me another thing to play for. It's bigger than me." MORE 2025 NBA DRAFT NEWS Sporting News' latest 2025 NBA mock draft Ranking top 60 players on 2025 NBA Draft big board Ranking top 10 NBA Draft prospects in March Madness LJ Cryer stats Let's take a look at LJ Cryer's stats from both Baylor and Houston.
Season School Class Games PPG RPG APG FG% 3P% 2020-21 Baylor FR 20 3.4 0.6 0.
8 38.2 36.4 2021-22 Baylor SO 19 13.
5 1.5 1.7 47.
6 46.8 2022-23 Baylor JR 31 15.0 2.
1 2.1 45.3 41.
5 2023-24 Houston SR 37 15.5 2.4 1.
9 41.1 38.8 2024-25 Houston GS 38 15.
4 2.3 2.0 40.
9 41.9 MORE: Ranking the best teams in the NCAA Final Four, from Duke to Houston Baylor basketball roster 2021 Cryer was one of three freshmen on Baylor's national championship roster in the 2020-21 season. In addition to the trio of freshmen, Baylor's roster was notable in that it featured a trio of future NBA players in Jared Butler, Adam Flagler and Davion Mitchell.
No. Name Class Hometown 0 Flo Thamba JR Kinshasa, DRC 4 LJ Cryer FR Katy, Texas 5 Jordan Turner FR Houston, Texas 10 Adam Flagler SO Duluth, Ga. 11 Mark Vital SR Lake Charles, La.
12 Jared Butler JR Reserve, La. 13 Jackson Moffatt SO Magnolia, Texas 23 Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua SO Douala, Cameroon 24 Matthew Mayer JR Austin, Texas 31 MaCio Teague SR Cincinnati, Ohio 32 Zach Loveday FR Gallipolis, Ohio 35 Mark Paterson SR Dallas, Texas 45 Davion Mitchell JR Hinesville, Ga. SN's AWARDS: 2024-25 All-Americans | Player of the Year | Coach of the Year Most NCAA basketball championships by player The record for most NCAA basketball championships by a men's player is three.
With UCLA winning seven consecutive NCAA titles between 1967 and 1973, the large group of three-time national champions played for the Bruins. Headlining the group of three-time champions is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, whose titles in 1967, 1968 and 1969 kicked off the run. Freshmen were not allowed to play varsity basketball in college until the 1972-73 season, so no members of the UCLA dynasty won four titles.
MORE MARCH MADNESS NEWS: Lowest seed to ever win NCAA Tournament 37 best teams that didn't win the NCAA Tournament Ranking the top 80 upsets in March Madness history.
