Paint Touches Top 10 BE players list for 18-20
Heron of St. John’s
6-5 205 lb SR SG
31.7 mpg, 14.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.1 spg, 0.2 bpg, 2.3 tpg, 50.9 eFG%
Avg. Rank: 10.71
High Rank: 5 (Baliatico – SH/Watkins – VU)
Low Rank: 21 (Jackson – MU)
While the Coach Mullin era will not be remembered fondly by most Red Storm fans, the one thing you could say about him is that he knew how to land transfers. During St. John’s short reign as Transfer U, the biggest splash came from the commitment of former Auburn Tiger Mustapha Heron. Heron was a star from day one down in Alabama. He was a member of the SEC All Freshman team before becoming part of the three headed monster that led Auburn to a 4 seed in the 2018 tourney. When Heron’s mother fell ill and Heron decided to move home, St. John’s managed to seal the deal. Not only that, but the Red Storm didn’t even have to wait a year for his services as Heron was granted a waiver to play right away by the NCAA. Heron’s addition was supposed to take an already dance worthy team to the top of Big East standings. Instead, Heron posted a career high in minutes but saw his scoring rebounding, and steal numbers all drop as the Johnnies stumbled to a first-round loss in Dayton. With most of the roster from last season gone, Heron is going to have a chance to put up yuge numbers for the Red Storm. If new Johnny skipper Mike Anderson can put together a sound offensive game plan, It wouldn’t be surprising to see St. John’s finish a little higher than most of the pundits have them pegged. Heron will be looked to for his leadership as the lone senior with high major experience on the roster.
7. L.J. Figueroa of St. John’s
6-7 200 lb RSJR SG
32.0 mpg, 14.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.8 spg, 0.2 bpg, 1.3 tpg, 57.9 eFG%
Avg. Rank: 8.429
High Rank: 4 (Jackson – MU)
Low Rank: 13 Baliatico – SH)
It has been an interesting and transient career for LJ Figueroa now of St. John’s. Coming out of high school he was ranked towards the back of the top 100 and held offers from over a dozen high major programs. He bucked them all to end up at low major powerhouse New Mexico State. He didn’t play due to academic difficulties and then transferred when his coach left for greener pastures. Rather than take a year off, Figueroa went the JUCO route and dominated the NJCAA, scoring over 21 points a game and earning an NJCAA First Team All American tag. Coming into last season, Mustapha Heron’s addition got all the attention, but Figueroa showed he was every bit as impactful and according to these voters, actually surpassed him. Offensively, Figueroa is a jack of all trades. He is a knockdown jumpshooter, loves to attack on hard cuts to the rim, and is extremely aggressive on the offensive glass. What he can’t do is create his own shot. He was a disaster in isolation only scoring 5 points despite many more attempts. On defense, very few create as many deflections and turnovers as Figueroa. He can be deployed to almost any defensive position on the floor and is one of the most opportunistic defenders in the country. His two-way ability earned him a spot on the Julius Irving Award watch list to start the season. St. John’s is the only team with two players in the top 10. But the other three players on this list all ended up in the bottom 5….and one of those was recently denied a waiver and likely won’t be playing this season. If the Red Storm are going to escape a last place finish it will be on the backs of Figueora and Heron as well as because Coach Anderson has developed the other players in ways Coach Mullen couldn’t.
https://painttouches.com/2019/11/04/top-50-players-in-the-big-east-10-1-4/
