LJ Cryer vs Zakai Zeigler 2025 NBA Draft profile: Stats comparison, landing spots and more

Images via Instagram pages of both players.

LJ Cryer and the Houston Cougars will play Zakai Zeigler and the Tennessee Volunteers in the Elite Eight of March Madness on Sunday at 2:20 p.m. ET. Cryer is the Cougars' leading scorer this season, and Zeigler is the Volunteers' No. 2 scorer but leading playmaker.

This will be the last time either player has the opportunity to win a national championship as both are out of NCAA eligibility after the season. As a result, both will enter the 2025 NBA draft projected to go either undrafted or in the second round.

LJ Cryer vs. Zakai Zeigler stats

LJ Cryer is in his second season at Houston and has been a consistent player for the team in both seasons. This season, he is averaging 15.3 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 37 games.

Conversely, Zeigler has spent all four years of his college career at Tennessee. He has slowly grown as an offensive player, having his best output this season. In 36 games, he has averaged 13.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.9 steals.

Zeigler is not an efficient scorer, which is concerning at the NBA level. He shoots at a 41.2% rate from the field and 32.6% from behind the 3-point arc. However, Cryer could have an opportunity to be a spot-up 3-point shooter in the NBA. This season, while he is only 41.2% from the field, he shot at a 42.4% rate from three.

Cryer vs. Zeigler: Age, height and weight

Cryer, 23 years old, is on the smaller side for an NBA prospect, standing at 6-foot-1 and weighing 200 pounds. However, he looks big compared to 22-year-old Zeigler who is only 5-foot-9 and 171 pounds.

LJ Cryer and Zakai Zeigler's landing spots

If LJ Cryer is going to be selected in the NBA draft, it will likely be by a rebuilding team that needs help with 3-point shooting. Cryer is likely to be a backup at the NBA level and will be used for spot-up shooting. The Washington Wizards would be a good fit as they have the second-worst 3-point shooting rate this season.

For Zakai Zeigler, he could fit into a rebuilding team that needs help on defense. The Utah Jazz would be a good fit and have two second-round picks to play with.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Nicolaas Ackermann