As soon as L.J. Figueroa put his name in the NCAA Transfer Portal on Monday, St. John’s coach Mike Anderson called Vince Cole to let him know about it.
St. John’s assistant T.J. Cleveland followed up with another call to Cole on Tuesday morning.
Cole, the 6-foot-6, 195-pound All-American shooting guard from USC-Salkehatchie, committed to St. John’s last September. And now he will be counted on to play a bigger offensive role if Figueroa leaves.
“I got to talk to the coaches a little bit about it,” Cole said Tuesday by phone from South Carolina, where he has been training in his school’s gym.
“Their message was “just get ready to come in and play basketball, play my game. Can’t really have that JUCO to D-1 late transition, just have to be ready from the jump.”
One source close to Figueroa said he’s considering all options, including remaining in the NBA Draft, the NBA G League, transferring and even returning to St. John’s., although it doesn’t appear likely he will return to the Big East School.
The Johnnies would then lose their top two scorers from last season in Figueroa (14.5 ppg) and Mustapha Heron (13.8 pg), leaving Rasheem Dunn (11.9 ppg) and Julian Champagnie (9.9 ppg) as the leading returning scorers.
Cole, meantime, averaged 18.7 points and 6.2 rebounds last season while shooting 47 percent from the field and 44 percent from deep. He feels he can score at the D-1 level, too.
“Yessir, I feel like I can score at any level,” Cole said. “I know it’s going to be a faster pace and once I get on campus, I feel like everything will be a whole lot easier just getting in the flow of everything.”
Cole said he’s permitted to be on campus July 6.
Zagoria, full piece
[URL]https://www.zagsblog.com/2020/...ger-role-for-st-johns-if-l-j-figueroa-leaves/[/URL]
St. John’s assistant T.J. Cleveland followed up with another call to Cole on Tuesday morning.
Cole, the 6-foot-6, 195-pound All-American shooting guard from USC-Salkehatchie, committed to St. John’s last September. And now he will be counted on to play a bigger offensive role if Figueroa leaves.
“I got to talk to the coaches a little bit about it,” Cole said Tuesday by phone from South Carolina, where he has been training in his school’s gym.
“Their message was “just get ready to come in and play basketball, play my game. Can’t really have that JUCO to D-1 late transition, just have to be ready from the jump.”
One source close to Figueroa said he’s considering all options, including remaining in the NBA Draft, the NBA G League, transferring and even returning to St. John’s., although it doesn’t appear likely he will return to the Big East School.
The Johnnies would then lose their top two scorers from last season in Figueroa (14.5 ppg) and Mustapha Heron (13.8 pg), leaving Rasheem Dunn (11.9 ppg) and Julian Champagnie (9.9 ppg) as the leading returning scorers.
Cole, meantime, averaged 18.7 points and 6.2 rebounds last season while shooting 47 percent from the field and 44 percent from deep. He feels he can score at the D-1 level, too.
“Yessir, I feel like I can score at any level,” Cole said. “I know it’s going to be a faster pace and once I get on campus, I feel like everything will be a whole lot easier just getting in the flow of everything.”
Cole said he’s permitted to be on campus July 6.
Zagoria, full piece
[URL]https://www.zagsblog.com/2020/...ger-role-for-st-johns-if-l-j-figueroa-leaves/[/URL]
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