Felilpe Lopez, the "Dominican Michael Jordan" donned the cover of Sports Illustrated's basketball preview edition as freshman as the next big thing. He capped off his illustrious career in Queens with the 65th Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award as the top men's collegiate basketball player by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association. The annual ceremony was held once again at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ on Wednesday, April 29, 1998.  

One of the most heralded high school players to ever come out of New York, Felipe Lopez finished third behind Chris Mullin and Malik Sealy on St. John's career list with 1,927 points. He averaged 17.6 points and 4.8 rebounds as a senior when St. John's returned to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1993.

Felipe Lopez finished his St. John's career as the third all-time leading scorer, behind fellow NBA stars Chris Mullin and Malik Sealy, with 1,927 points. He recorded a final average of 16.9 points per game while playing in 114 games in his four year St. John's career. He will forever be remembered as one of the classiest players, on-and-off the court, to ever wear the St. John's uniform.

Lopez's statistics are among the top 10 in nearly every offensive category. He ranks second in career 3-point field goals made with 148, fifth in total field goals with 670, second in field goal attempts with 1,615, seventh in free throws made (439), fifth in free throw attempts (667), ninth in steals with 135 and first in three-point field goal attempts with 500.

He was drafted in the first round (24th pick) in the NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs, and immediately traded to the Vancouver Grizzlies. He played four seasons in the NBA with the Grizzlies, Washington Wizards and the Minnesota Timberwolves, before playing in the CBA and internationally for the next ten years.