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RJ Luis Jr., a former St. John’s standout who recently signed with LSU after spending time with two NBA clubs, was cleared by a court Monday evening to start practicing and potentially play for the Tigers this season.
Luis, who briefly was under contract with the Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics but never played in an NBA game, hugged LSU coach Will Wade after the ruling by East Baton Rouge Parish District Court judge Ronald R. Johnson.
After a five-hour hearing, Johnson granted the player’s request for a preliminary injunction against the NCAA, which had argued Luis was unlikely to win reinstatement after leaving college to turn pro in 2025.
“This is precedent. It’s monumental,” said Baton Rouge-based attorney Tony Clayton, who represented Luis along with Elliot Abrams of Raleigh, North Carolina. “This allows him to go practice, go play and we’ll let the legal process work itself out.”
The timeline for that process was not immediately clear.
“I don’t know, but there’s a lot of discovery that Elliot and I have to obtain,” Clayton said. “We’ve got a lot of questions.”
Luis’ attorneys noted that the NCAA had granted exceptions allowing numerous players from overseas professional leagues to join college basketball programs, and argued that American players must be afforded the same opportunity.
They stressed that Luis not only had never played in an NBA game, but also had not played for the Celtics’ G League affiliate because of an injury, and had far less of a professional basketball resume than numerous college players who’d been recruited from abroad.
NCAA attorney Taylor Askew argued that Luis’ situation was not comparable to those who played for the developmental squads of pro organizations overseas because Luis chose to leave college for the NBA.
Askew noted that the only player in a similar situation to Luis was Alabama’s Charles Bediako, who won a temporary retraining order allowing him to play five games for Alabama last season before an Alabama judge ultimately sided with NCAA assertions that he was ineligible.
“I understand Mr. Luis is disappointed that he was not drafted and did not play in the NBA as much as he would have liked,” Askew said. “Actions have consequences. Decisions have outcomes and they’re not always the right ones or the ones that you want.”
As he made his ruling, Johnson said, “In the court’s mind, (Luis) did not actually play professional basketball,” and that whether Luis was properly advised of his options at the time he left college “lingers heavily before this court.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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