Houston paces AP Big 12 honors again, Kelvin Sampson repeats as top coach and LJ Cryer top player

Houston's Kelvin Sampson is The Associated Press Big 12 coach of the year for the second year in a row and Cougars guard LJ Cryer is the league’s top player after another regular-season conference title for the second-ranked program.

Texas Tech sophomore JT Toppin was named the newcomer of the year Tuesday and was a unanimous pick on the AP All-Big 12 first team. The New Mexico transfer is the only Big 12 player who ranks top three in both scoring (18.1 ppg) and rebounding (9.3 rpg).

Joining Cryer and Toppin as AP first-team picks were 7-foot-2 Kansas graduate center Hunter Dickinson, BYU junior Richie Saunders and West Virginia senior Javon Small.

Houston has won the Big 12 regular-season title in both seasons since joining the league after winning back-to-back American Athletic Conference titles. The Cougars (27-4) set Big 12 and school records by winning 19 conference games.

Cryer is averaging 15.3 points a game and is the league's top 3-pointer shooter making 43.1% (93 of 216) of his long-range shots. The 6-foot-1 Texas native has started all 68 games for Houston the past two seasons after beginning his college career with three years at Baylor, where he was part of two other Big 12 regular-season titles and as a freshman was on their 2021 national championship team.

It is the second year in a row for a Cougar to be the AP Big 12 player of the year. Jamal Shead, now in the NBA with Toronto, took the honor last season.

A pair of Baylor newcomers, graduate transfer forward Norchad Omier and freshman guard VJ Edgecombe, were second-team picks along with UCF junior Keyshawn Hall, Arizona senior guard Caleb Love, and Iowa State senior guard Curtis Jones.

The AP's individual awards and All-Big 12 honors were determined through voting by media members covering the league.

u-F JT Toppin, Texas Tech, 6-9, 225, So., Dallas.

G LJ Cryer, Houston, 6-1, 200, Gr., Katy, Texas.

C Hunter Dickinson, Kansas, 7-2, 265, Gr., Alexandria, Virginia.

G/F Richie Saunders, BYU, 6-5, 196, Jr., Riverton, Utah.

G Javon Small, West Virginia, 6-3, 190, Sr., South Bend, Indiana.

u-unanimous pick

G VJ Edgecombe, Baylor, 6-5, 180, Fr, Bimini, Bahamas.

G/F Keyshawn Hall, UCF, 6-7, 235, Jr., Cleveland.

G Caleb Love, Arizona, 6-4, 205, Sr., St. Louis.

G Curtis Jones, Iowa State, 6-4, 195, Sr., Minneapolis.

G/F Norchad Omier, Baylor, 6-7, 244, Gr., Bluefields, Nicaragua.

Coach of the year – Kelvin Sampson, Houston.

Player of the year – LJ Cryer, Houston.

Newcomer of the year – JT Toppin, Texas Tech.

AP All-Big 12 voting panel: Brice Cherry, Waco Tribune-Herald; David Collier, KAMC-TV, Lubbock, Texas; Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald, Provo, Utah; Joseph Durate, Houston Chronicle; Rob Gray, The Cedar Rapids Gazette; Henry Greenstein, Lawrence Journal-World; Sean Keeler, The Denver Post; Matt Murschel, Orlando Sentinel; Bruce Pascoe, Arizona Daily Star; Pat Rooney, Boulder Daily Camera; Mick Shaffer, KSHB 41-TV, Kansas City; Tyler Waldrep Tulsa World; Sean Walker, KSL.com.

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll

Houston's L.J. Cryer (4) keeps the ball from Cincinnati's Day Day Thomas (1) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, March 1, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Niger’s junta leader, Abdourahamane Tchiani, was on Wednesday sworn in as the country’s president for a transition period of five years under a new charter that replaces the West African nation’s constitution. The move effectively rebuffed attempts by the regional bloc to quicken the return to democracy after a 2023 coup.

The five-year “flexible” transition period begins on Wednesday, according to Mahamane Roufai, the secretary general of the government. He was speaking at a ceremony in the capital Niamey where the new transition charter recommended by a recent national conference was approved.

Tchiani, an army veteran, was also elevated to the country’s highest military rank of army general, cementing his grip on power since June 2023 when he led soldiers that deposed the country’s elected government.

The new president would have been in power for about seven years by the end of the transition period in 2030, following similar patterns of prolonged stints in power in Africa's junta-led countries, including Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso.

Niger's junta had initially proposed a three-year transition period right after the coup, but that was rejected by West Africa's regional bloc known as ECOWAS, which called it a provocation and threatened to intervene with the use of force.

Since then Niger has left the bloc alongside Mali and Burkina Faso, in protest of harsh sanctions which the bloc announced to force a return to democracy in Niger.

Critics say Niger's junta has clamped down on civil rights and struggled to end the jihadi violence that the military said inspired them to take power.

FILE - Nigeriens participate in a march called by supporters of coup leader Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, pictured, in Niamey, Niger, July 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)