(Photo: St. John’s Lacrosse/Instagram)

Brian Brecht and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights landed a commitment in the 2022 class on Wednesday, as St. John’s College, D.C., defenseman Riley Figueiras announced that he would be taking his talents Piscataway in a few years. The defenseman also considered Boston U. and Brown.

Figueiras is the third commitment on the defensive end in the class for Rutgers, along with Brunswick School, Conn., defenseman Logan Mueller and Boys Latin, Md., goalie Cardin Stoller. The Scarlet Knights currently have seven total commitments in the 2022 class.

“The campus was awesome and the athletic facilities are unmatched,” Figueiras told Lacrosse Bucket. “But I really just had a gut feeling when I was there.”

Rutgers was the first school to contact Figueiras, initially making contact with him at midnight on September 1st. While recruiting remains in a dead period due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the DC native has been able to take a visit up to Rutgers on his own and see campus.

A starter and 2nd Team ALL-WCAC selection as a freshman, the 6-foot, 170-pound defenseman helped lead the Cadets to a WCAC title game appearance in 2019. During the shortened 2020 season, Figueiras and his team went 3-0 before the season was cancelled.

A high IQ defender who can put the ball on the carpet, Figueiras is rated as a four-star by Inside Lacrosse and was ranked as the No. 51 player in the NLF’s most recent Super 60 rankings.

Figueiras mentioned that he does have multiple areas where he wants to improve in, and has multiple personal goals for himself coming into his junior season. “I would like to improve on making myself a better overall player, getting involved in the offense. Also off ball defense,” Figueiras said. “I want to be 1st team WCAC and no goals allowed on me.”