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NCAA Basketball: 20 teams who should target St. John’s transfer LJ Figueroa

By Tristan Freeman

NEW YORK , NY - MARCH 11: LJ Figueroa #30 of the St. John's Red Storm looks on during the Big East Conference Men's Basketball Tournament First Round game against the Georgetown Hoyas at Madison Square Garden on March 11, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
NEW YORK , NY - MARCH 11: LJ Figueroa #30 of the St. John's Red Storm looks on during the Big East Conference Men's Basketball Tournament First Round game against the Georgetown Hoyas at Madison Square Garden on March 11, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – FEBRUARY 26: Brendan Bailey #1 of the Marquette Golden Eagles  (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – FEBRUARY 26: Brendan Bailey #1 of the Marquette Golden Eagles  (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

Kentucky Wildcats

Kentucky is in a similar spot to Duke in terms of having many freshmen on their roster trying to compete for the ultimate title. They’re going to be incredibly young next season, with Nick Richards, Ashton Hagans and Immanuel Quickley all leaving for the NBA Draft. Coach John Calipari has been aggressive in the transfer portal this offseason, landing Creighton grad transfer Davion Mintz and Wake Forest big man Olivier Sarr. The Demon Deacon center and Figueroa are in similar situations where they’ll need a waiver to play, or possibly will go pro instead of sitting out.

While Kentucky has a pair of outstanding incoming top-10 overall freshmen in Terrence Clarke and BJ Boston, it would be nice to have an upperclassman on the perimeter. Figueroa can also play some at the power forward spot as well, particularly if Sarr isn’t available to play. The Wildcats have been involved with many top-tier transfers so far, might as well gauge the interest in the high volume scorer from St. John’s.

Marquette Golden Eagles

With starting wing Brendan Bailey now going pro after two seasons, the Golden Eagles are in need of a starting-caliber small forward. With him gone, Marquette only returns one player who scorer more than 5.2 ppg this year in Koby McEwen. They do have a top-15 incoming recruiting class, led by top-30 overall big man Dawson Garcia.

Marquette did land a pair of transfers already this offseason in DJ Carton from Ohio State and Jose Perez from Gardner-Webb. Both are currently looking for waivers but Carton seems to have a case to be able to play in 2020-21. Either way, Figueroa could come in and excel in an offense that works well with perimeter players. Although, he probably won’t score as much as Markus Howard did last year.

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