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

North Carolina Tar Heels

Coach Roy Williams may take an offseason off from looking at the transfer portal, considering how the mid-major additions (Christian Keeling and Justin Pierce) ended up not working. Of course, Figueroa is of a different caliber, having his success in the Big East, instead of the Colonial Athletic and Big South Conference. As for next season, even without Cole Anthony around, the Tar Heels bring back All-ACC forward Garrison Brooks, along with the No. 2 ranked incoming recruiting class that features a trio of five-star prospects.

As long as freshman Caleb Love performs to expectations, UNC should be back to normal. But there are questions as to how the perimeter wings will perform, particularly when it comes to shooting. Figueroa would provide the overall balance that’ll take this team to another level and have them as ACC frontrunners.

North Carolina State Wolfpack

The Wolfpack didn’t lose a top player to the transfer portal but rather saw top-50 wing recruit Josh Hall elect to enter the NBA Draft instead of joining college. They still have a top-25 incoming recruiting class and return leading scorer Devon Daniels. There’s still the situation with big man Derek Funderburk, who is going through the draft process.

Jericole Hellems is the lone player capable of playing on the wing, outside of NC State using a small lineup with 6’1 guards everywhere. Figueroa would be a great transfer replacement for Coach Kevin Keatts at this point in the offseason for Hall and would have an even bigger impact next season.