A PROMISE FULFILLED
Johnnies’ Figueroa makes family proud after leaving home at 14
DAYTON, Ohio — The first conversation didn’t last long. As soon as Gleny Mercado heard the plan — her son, LJ Figueroa, wanted to leave home at the age of 14 to further his basketball career in Florida — her initial reaction was what one would expect from a mother.
“He isn’t going,” she recalled thinking, reminding him there would be nobody around to cook his meals and make sure he did his homework.
But the discussions didn’t end that day. They continued consistently for the next 10 days, Figueroa and Alex Arias, a trusted local basketball coach with connections down south to a prep school and AAU program, trying to change Mercado’s mind.
Almost daily, Arias worked on Mercado, trying to get her to let her son leave their home in Lawrence, Mass., a place she described as “like the bad part of The Bronx.” She softened her stance the more she learned about it, and that he would have Arias looking after him. Then one day, Figueroa won her over with a promise and an unnerving prediction.
“I’m going to do whatever it takes and never quit,” he told her. And this: “If I stay local, I’m going to stay local forever.”
Six years later, Figueroa is getting ready for the NCAA Tournament, playing basketball for St. John’s, living out the dream he sold his mother on that day.
The skilled and versatile 6-foot-6 sophomore wing took a circuitous journey to get to St. John’s. He spent three years at prep schools Oldsmar Christian and West Oaks in Florida while playing for AAU program Team Breakdown and developing into a four-star recruit. He started at New Mexico State, but left after the coaching staff that recruited him left for another school, playing a year at junior college before winding up back in the northeast in Queens.
The start was the toughest part, leaving home, living with new peopl e, and being on his own. He frequently thought about coming home. But he always flashed back to that promise he made his mother when he left.
“It was hard, but I overcame it, and it got me to the point I’m at now,” he said. “There wasn’t too much opportunity for me back home. Living there for 14 years — I loved being home — but I knew I had to get out of there and make something happen with myself.
“A lot of basketball players back home, they kind of play basketball out there and then their career ends right after high school. I wanted more for myself.”
When Figueroa, 20, arrived at New Mexico State in the spring of 2017, he didn’t expect to leave. He had developed a close bond with assistant coach Marc Hsu and was working to get enough credits to be eligible.
“I was having the time of my life,” he said.
But then head coach Paul Weirgot the job at New Mexico, and a new staff was brought in. Figueroa wound up at Odessa College in Texas, where he became a junior college All-American, averaging 21.4 points per game.
Figueroa had interest in Western Kentucky, where Hsu had become an assistant coach, but he liked the idea of being close to family. Hsu felt St. John’s wide-open style was a better fit for him.
The Johnnies had recruited him out of high school and stayed in contact while he was at Odessa. St. John’s had just lost forward Tariq Owens and was desperately in need of an impact player. Figueroa was recruited aggressively by the Johnnies, and passed on more accomplished Big 12 programs such as Baylor, West Virginia and Oklahoma State. They couldn’t offer what St. John’s could: Close proximity to his large family.
His family attends almost every home game. At Carnesecca Arena, they have season tickets, sitting in the same corner for every game. When he was at prep school in Florida, he would go home twice a year. Now home is coming to him.
“They never watched me play until I came here to St. John’s,” he said with a smile.
A starter since the season’s outset, Figueroa has been St. John’s biggest surprise this season, the team’s leading rebounder (6.2), third-leading scorer (14.3) and, in a lot of ways, its motor. When he plays well, the Red Storm usually do, too. He can shoot from the outside, hitting 37.5 percent of his 3-point attempts, and he can score in the paint. On a team where consistent effort and focus has at times been lacking, Figueroa’s energy is usually a constant.
Soon, it could be his team. The expectation is Shamorie Ponds will go pro when this season ends. Marvin Clark II will graduate. Justin Simon and Mustapha Heron each have just one year left. Coach Chris Mullin thinks Figueroa is only scratching the surface at both ends of the floor. The St. John’s coach thinks Figueroa can become an elite defensive player and more of a playmaker as his ball-handling improves.
“It’s been unbelievable,” Figueroa said. “I don’t really believe it, just playing on the Division I level.”
It all goes back to that day he left home. If not, there’s no telling where he would be right now.
“I couldn’t tell you,” Figueroa said.
He hopes to one day play professionally. He talks to his mother constantly about moving her out of Lawrence and buying his sister a new home. It’s was why he left home six years ago. To make a better life for his family. But Mercado always stops such talk.
“You don’t need to go any further,” she frequently tells him, “to make us proud.”