Judge Grants RJ Luis Jr. Injunction to Play Basketball at LSU
A Louisiana judge cleared RJ Luis Jr., a former St. John's standout, to practice and potentially play for LSU this season, granting the guard's request for a preliminary injunction against the NCAA. East Baton Rouge Parish District Court Judge Ronald R. Johnson issued the ruling Monday evening after a five-hour hearing, and Luis embraced LSU coach Will Wade immediately afterward.
Luis signed brief contracts with the Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics but never appeared in an NBA game. He also did not play for the Celtics' G League affiliate because of an injury. The NCAA had contended he was unlikely to win reinstatement after leaving college for the professional ranks in 2025, arguing his decision to turn pro carried consequences that could not be undone through litigation. sapphire esports
Luis' attorneys, Tony Clayton of Baton Rouge and Elliot Abrams of Raleigh, North Carolina, argued the NCAA had already granted similar exceptions to players arriving from overseas professional leagues and that American athletes deserved the same treatment. NCAA attorney Taylor Askew countered that those cases involved developmental teams abroad, not a player who left college specifically to pursue the NBA. Askew pointed to Alabama's Charles Bediako as the closest precedent - he won a temporary restraining order that let him play five games for Alabama last season before an Alabama judge ultimately ruled him ineligible.
In issuing his decision, Johnson said he did not consider Luis to have "actually played professional basketball" and noted that questions over whether Luis received proper guidance when he left college "lingers heavily" over the case. Clayton called the ruling significant but acknowledged the legal fight is far from over. "This allows him to go practice, go play and we'll let the legal process work itself out," he said, adding that discovery in the underlying case has not yet begun.
