LSU Tigers Receive Official Ruling on RJ Luis Eligibility Case

The LSU Tigers have been waiting to hear an answer on whether or not RJ Luis Jr. would be able to play next season.

St. John's Red Storm guard RJ Luis Jr. (12) is introduced before a semifinal game against the Marquette Golden Eagles at Madison Square Garden. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The LSU Tigers men's basketball roster for next season just keeps getting better and better, though it isn't coming without a fair share of controversy.

Former St John's guard RJ Luis has officially received a preliminary injunction that makes him eligible to play college basketball for LSU during the 2026-27 season, per multiple reports. Luis was the 2025 Big East Player of the Year with the Red Storm.

Luis went undrafted in the 2025 NBA Draft before signing an undrafted deal with the Utah Jazz. He was then traded to the Boston Celtics and was subsequently waived having never appeared in an NBA game this past year. He eventually committed to play for LSU and head coach Will Wade earlier this offseason.

LSU Coach Will Wade Attended RJ Luis' Court Hearing

St. John's Red Storm guard RJ Luis Jr. (12) dribbles during the second half of a second round men’s NCAA Tournament game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Amica Mutual Pavilion. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Wade and the LSU coaching staff have now officially secured what should be one of the team's best players next season in Luis.

The uncertainty of whether or not Luis would be eligible was a question that had hung over the heads of everyone in the LSU men's basketball program this summer, including Wade, who was in attendance at court to congratulate Luis on being granted the injunction.

Here's a look at Wade embracing Luis in a photo captured by LSU reporter Michael Cauble:

RJ Luis wins his motion for injunctive relief and will be declared eligible to join LSU’s team pic.twitter.com/RJNDSQPmDz

— Michael Cauble (@Cauble) August 24, 2026

Luis started his career off at UMass in 2022 but spent just one year with the Minutemen before transferring to St. John's where he became one of the best players in college basketball.

Across his first three years of college basketball, Luis played in 85 games (52 starts) while averaging 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals on 43.9 percent shooting.

LSU is Putting Together an Interesting Roster

The official addition of Luis gives LSU another experienced and talented player for Wade to work with as he begins his second stint as head coach in Baton Rouge.

LSU recently secured a commitment from former UCLA guard Donovan Dent, who was the 2025 Mountain West Player of the Year while at New Mexico.

The Tigers have also added transfers like Divine Ugochukwu (Michigan State), Skyy Clark (UCLA), Abdi Bashir Jr. (Kansas State), Mouhamed Dioubate (Kentucky) and more,

The LSU men's basketball program has had a wild offseason but it's clear that fans now have some talented players to look forward to once the season begins this November.

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