TIGER RAG NEWS SERVICES
Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey is trying to block LSU basketball coach Will Wade from adding star forward RJ Luis, because Luis signed with two NBA teams after his Big East Player of the Year season at St. John’s in 2024-25.
Sankey filed an affidavit letter to 19th District Judge Ronald R. Johnson of East Baton Rouge Parish last week, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, ahead of Luis’ preliminary injunction hearing at 1:30 p.m. Monday in Johnson’s courtroom that Luis hopes will make him eligible for LSU’s 2026-27 season.
Luis and LSU lawyers filed a lawsuit against the NCAA, saying that he should be allowed to play because he did not play in any NBA regular season games. That was because Luis was hurt, however, which his camp has skipped over.
Sankey told Johnson in his letter that such a move by LSU “fuels disruption” and it not happening is “essential to the integrity of college sports.”
Allowing pros back into college would undermine “fundamental principles” of college sports and limit the opportunities of high school athletes everywhere trying to be college athletes, Sankey said.
“These rules are grounded in the principle that athletics are an integral part of the academic experience,” Sankey wrote. “The rules align the time permitted for college athletics with the pursuit of an undergraduate education and further the important purpose of preserving opportunities for future student-athletes to participate in college sports.”
Sankey also came out vehemently against Alabama signing and playing 6-foot-11 center Charles Bediako last season. Bediako had played in the NBA G League after two seasons at Alabama in 2021-22 and 2022-23, making him ineligible according to NCAA rules. Naturally, Alabama got a judge in Tuscaloosa to issue a temporary restraining order, and Bediako played five games for the Crimson Tide between Jan. 24 and Feb. 9. That judge then ruled in favor of the NCAA rules, and Bediako’s second college career ended. He is now playing in the National Basketball League for New Zealand.
“Permitting former professional athletes to return to competition creates a competitive disadvantage and fundamental unfairness for current student-athletes who have not pursued a professional sports career,” Sankey said at the time.
LSU lawyers representing Luis are arguing that the NCAA allows players who have signed contracts with European pro teams are allowed to later play in college, so that is inconsistent and not fair.
The NCAA continues to look at college players signing with NBA teams and trying to return to college differently. Luis playing at LSU would “forever damage college basketball and make the NCAA and the NBA a revolving door,” NCAA lawyers say in court documents.
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