Daily News New York City. March 29, 2020

DAILY NEWSNYDailyNews.com Sunday, March 29, 2020 71

St. John's wingLJ Figueroa

has declared for the NBA draft.

School officials announced

Figueroa's decision Saturday,

saying that he hasn't hired an

agent and still has the option to

return to school.

Figueroa can return to school

for his final season of eligibility if

he withdraws from the draft

pool by June 3.

“These past two years at St.

John's have presented me with

tremendous opportunities for

growth both on and off the

court,” said Figueroa. “My fam-

ily, coaches, teammates and my

hometown Lawrence, Massa-

chusetts, have helped me devel-

op into the man I am today, and

Icannot begin to thank every-

one enough. After speaking

with my family and coaching

staff, I have decided to declare

for the 2020 NBA Draft. I intend

to keep all of my options open

and look forward to the learning

experience this process will of-

fer.”

He started 64 of his 66 games

for the Red Storm over the past

two years and scored 956 points.

“We support LJ's decision to

pursue his lifelong dream,” said

St. John's Head Coach Mike

Anderson. “This is an opportu-

nity to gain valuable informa-

tion by going through the NBA

pre-draft process to make the

best decision for his future.”

TEXAS KEEPS SMART

Texas will stick with coach

Shaka Smart next season after

the Longhorns won five of their

final six games and were fight-

ing for a spot in the NCAA Tour-

nament before it was canceled

amid the coronavirus scare.

Texas athletic director Chris

Del Conte told the Austin

American-Statesman, “Shaka's

our coach.”

Sm a r t w a s f a c i n g o p e n

speculation on his future with

the Longhorns at midseason

when the program was mired

near the bottom of the Big 12.

Next season will be Smart's

sixth in a seven-year contract.

He is 90-78 overall at Texas but

just 40-50 in the Big 12. The

Longhorns were 19-12 last sea-

son with no seniors and are ex-

pected to return the entire line-

up.

St. John’s

Figueroa

declares

Alex Rodriguez might not
be able to add “public health
official” to his growing post-
baseball resume, but he has
his president’s trust.
Th e r e t i r e d Ya n k e e s
superstar, business mogul,
and high school graduate
was reportedly recruited by
President Trump earlier
this week for his thoughts
on coronavirus, according
to ABC News’ John Santucci
and Katherine Faulders on
Friday.
A-Rod’s fiancee, Jennifer
Lopez, was also in on the
call, even though the multi-
hyphenate entertainer has
yet to complete — or to any-
one’s knowledge, start —
any formalized epidemio-
logical studies.
According to Faulders,
Trump’s call was part of his
continued outreach across
the country on handling the
virus, which has broadened
its scope to business leaders
an d a p p a r e n t l y, r e t i r e d
baseball players he used to
slam in interviewsand on
Tw i t t e rf o r w e l l - d o c u -
mented PED usage.
“Druggie A-Rod, MLB’s

bi g g e s t f r a u d , i s l u c k y

George Steinbrenner is no

longer with us, Yankees

would have voided his con-

tr a c t ,” T r u m p t w e e t e d

sometime before requesting

A-Rod’s acumen on a pan-

demic with nearly 600,000

cases worldwide, including

over 100,000 in the United

States.

Trump’s stated intent to

reopen businesses closed to

mitigate the spread of co-

ronavirus was called an “as-

pirational projection to give

people some hope” by Dr.

Anthony Fauci, the director

of the National Institute of

Allergy and Infectious Dis-

eases.

However, sources close to

Rodriguez described the

call between the three-time

MVP and 45th President to

ABC as “pleasant.”

At 12:40 a.m. on Wednes-

day, the President refuted

the report and tweeted,

“More Fake News!”

MEDICAL MASKS

Canadian hockey goalie

equipment manufacturer

Brian's Custom Sports has

begun producing medical

supplies for hospitals in and

around southwestern On-

tario.

Th e c o m p a n y i n

Kingsville was originally

ap p r o a c h e d b y p u b l i c

health officials about its

surplus of double - sided

tape and foam. But when the

Ontario government closed

nonessential businesses to

help stop the spread of

COVID -19, the company

was asked to change its pro-

duction.

Now its 15-person sewing

team is producing medical

gowns for front-line medi-

cal workers for Windsor-

Essex EMS. AP

CLEMSON QB HELPS

Cl e m s o n q u a r t e r b a c k

Trevor Lawrence and his

girlfriend have restarted

their efforts to raise money

for those affected by the

new coronavirus.

They announced their

decision Saturday on social

media.

The two had set up a Go-

FundMe page earlier this

week until told by Clemson

compliance officials the site

violated NCAA rules against

using an athlete's name, im-

age and likeness for crowd

funding. But the NCAA said

Tuesday that Lawrence and

other athletes could use

such sites to raise money in

this case.

Lawrence's girlfriend,

Marissa Mowry, is a soccer

player at Anderson Uni-

versity, about 15 miles from

Clemson's campus.

They created the “Trevor

La w r e n c e a n d M a r i s s a

Mowry COVID -19 Relief

Fund” designed to provide

direct assistance to families

affected by the pandemic.

AP

AVALANCHE PLAYER

TESTS POSITIVE

The Colorado Avalanche

say a second player has

tested positive for the new

coronavirus.

The team said it was in-

formed Friday night and the

player is in self-isolation.

In their statement Sat-

urday, the Avalanche say

those who came in close

contact with the player have

been informed and remain

isolated.

The team says no other

Avalanche player or staff

member has shown symp-

toms at this time.

The unidentified player

ha s b e c o m e t h e f o u r t h

known NHL player to test

positive for the virus. The

other two are with Ottawa.

AP

Donald Trump and Alex Rodriguez pose at a party in 2004, long before Trump became president and A-Rod was suspended for PEDs. DAILY NEWS

Report: Trump, A-Rod talk virus

BY BRADFORD

WILLIAM DAVIS

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS