Wednesday was a busy one for Big 12 men’s basketball, as four different players were cleared for basketball activities per College Hoops Today’s Jon Rothstein.
A fifth — Baylor’s Langston Love — is still waiting.
Houston guard LJ Cryer, who was recovering from a foot injury, got his clearance per Houston coach Kelvin Sampson. Cryer needed offseason surgery on the foot after the Cougars’ NCAA Tournament run ended against Duke in the Sweet 16.
Cryer averaged 15.5 points per game a season ago and joins Joseph Tugler and Terrance Arceneaux as Cougars who have been cleared for basketball-related activities.
Iowa State, which is coming off a Big 12 Tournament title and also reached the Sweet 16, will have Saint Mary’s transfer Joshua Jefferson in basketball activities after he was cleared from his knee injury, per coach T.J. Otzelberger.
Jefferson averaged 10.2 points and 6.5 rebounds for the Gaels last season. The Cyclones are expected to be a Top 10 team in the AP Top 25 preseason poll.
First-year Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz told Rothstein that guard Bryce Thompson had been cleared after he missed part of last season with a shoulder injury. He averaged 11.6 points in 18 games and chose to stay after the firing of Mike Boynton Jr., who is now an assistant coach at Michigan.
West Virginia guard Joseph Yesufu — who was at Washington State last season — has been cleared of a hip injury, according to first-year coach Darian DeVries. Yesufu played six games last year before he got hurt, but he averaged 6.2 points in those games.
Love has not been cleared of an ankle injury that kept him out of the NCAA Tournament, as the Bears lost in the second round. Drew informed Rothstein that Love, who averaged 11 points per game off the bench last season, is still waiting for full clearance.
