RJ Luis’s Attorneys Defend Injunction Ruling While NCAA ‘Cries Wolf’

By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter

After a Baton Rouge judge granted LSU basketball signee RJ Luis a preliminary injunction allowing him to return to college basketball on Monday, one of his attorneys, Elliot Abrams said that the decision is not the death of the NCAA as so often claimed during eligibility cases.

Statements from attorneys representing RJ Luis in his case, Elliot Abrams and Tony Clayton following their successful injunction https://t.co/XwNsP04MHx pic.twitter.com/76ZzKp5VJ7

— Michael Cauble (@Cauble) August 25, 2026

Luis’s attorneys, Abrams and Baton Rouge lawyer Tony Clayton, argued that overseas professional players are allowed to play college basketball, but the same standard is not applied to domestic players. Abrams also said that with name image and likeness deals and revenue sharing allowing schools to pay athletes directly, the NCAA is now a professional sports league.

“When you create the NCAA now as a professional league, and then you start drawing these arbitrary distinctions and saying, ‘this is too much or that’s too much,’ all of these things, every time someone challenges an arbitrary decision of the NCAA, the NCAA cries wolf,” Abrams told reporters after judge Ronald Johnson’s ruling.

The 2025 Big East Player of the Year, Luis never played in a professional game due to injury, but he did sign two-way and Exhibit 10 contracts with the Utah Jazz and Boston Celtic’s G League affiliate. Judge  Johnson ruled he did not technically play professionally, but NCAA rules state a player who simply signs a pro contract is not eligible to return.

“This is just a judge forcing the NCAA to live up to the law as so many judges have had to do because the NCAA has decided to try to draw distinctions that don’t stand up to reason,” Abrams said.

LSU Gets Friendly Local Judge Ruling That Makes Former NBA Pro RJ Luis A Tiger; But SEC Stands Against It

The NCAA is likely to appeal the decision, and the SEC could take action to rule Luis ineligible after commissioner Greg Sankey came out against Luis’s return. For now, the 23-year-old will be allowed to practice with the Tigers. Clayton shared an emotional embrace with Luis after the ruling.

“I kind of teared up,” he said. “His dad looked at me teary-eyed, and I looked at him because his kid finally gets to be treated fairly. So I hugged him, and he said thank you, and he started looking for Elliott. And I didn’t want to hug him too long because I didn’t want to cry, but I felt a big relief lift off of that kid’s shoulders.”