Preparing for the program’s first season in a new league, University of Houston senior guard LJ Cryer and senior point guard Jamal Shead earned places on the Preseason All-Big 12 Conference Team, the league announced.

Cryer was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team while Shead was one of 11 student-athletes to receive Honorable Mention in voting by the league’s head coaches.

Cryer was joined on the Preseason All-Big 12 Conference Team by Kansas center Hunter Dickinson, Kansas guard Dajuan Harris Jr, TCU forward Emanuel Miller and Texas guard Max Abmas.

Dickinson was named the league’s Preseason Player and Newcomer of the Year. Baylor forward Ja’Kobe Walter was recognized as the Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the Year.

Shead was joined as an Honorable Mention by Walter, Jalen Bridges (Baylor), RayJ Dennis (Baylor), Kevin McCullar Jr. (Kansas), Arthur Kaluma (Kansas State), Tylor Perr (Kansas State), Dylan Disu (Texas), Tyrese Hunter (Texas), Dillon Mitchell (Texas) and Jesse Edwards (West Virginia).

Cryer is in his first season at Houston in 2023-24 after transferring from Baylor during the summer.

A three-year letterman during an award-winning career, Cryer earned 2022-23 All-Big 12 and USBWA All-District VII Team recognition after averaging 15.0 points per game while hitting 45.3 percent (163-of-360) from the field, including 41.5 percent (80-of-193) from behind the arc.

The Katy, Texas, native set Baylor’s NCAA Tournament scoring record with 30 points against rv/#22 Creighton and posted the program’s single-season free throw percentage record at 89.4 percent (59-of-66).

As a freshman, Cryer competed in 20 games while helping lead the Bears to the Big 12 title and the NCAA national championship.

Cryer was an award-winning player at Morton Ranch, where he finished his career with 3,488 points, the fifth-highest total in Texas public school history. He was named to the TABC Class 6A All-State Team.

Shead has been a leader with the Cougars for three seasons and enters the 2023-24 season with 460 career assists to rank seventh in school history.

As a junior a year ago, he was named the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year while averaging 10.5 points per game with a team-high 200 assists. The Manor, Texas, native joined Houston great Reid Gettys as the only players in school history with multiple seasons with 200+ assists.

Shead was one of only 10 student-athletes to rank among the nation’s Top-30 leaders in both assists per game and assist-turnover ratio.

In 2021-22, Shead led Houston to the NCAA Elite and was named to the NCAA Tournament All-Regional Team, becoming only the third sophomore in school history to earn that honor, joining Hakeem Olajuwon (1984) and Elvin Hayes (1968).