By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
Former NBA and G League signee RJ Luis is not expected to be ruled eligible by the NCAA and Southeastern Conference, and LSU coach Will Wade is dropping his efforts to roster the former St. John’s star, CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander reports.
Luis has been practicing at LSU for several weeks hoping to get cleared by the NCAA as have other players amid pending lawsuits and those from overseas. Luis’ eligibility battle, more than the others however, has always been a long shot for Wade.
But Luis, the Big East Player of the Year in his last season in 2024-25, would have been a pivotal addition to Wade’s roster. After not getting drafted in 2025, Luis signed NBA contracts with the Boston Celtics and Utah Jazz. After he was sidelined by an injury, Luis was cut without ever appearing in a regular season NBA game. He committed to play for Wade at LSU several months ago and won a preliminary injunction in August from a Baton Rouge judge to return to college basketball at LSU.
However, that ruling, along with LSU football coach Lane Kiffin’s recruitment of two of his former Ole Miss players who signed NFL contracts, led to the SEC’s ban on rostering players who signed pro contracts or declared for the NFL or NBA drafts without withdrawing their names. Luis’s return, even if deemed eligible, would violate that rule and expose Wade to a half-season-long suspension and the LSU basketball team to a fine worth 50 percent of its annual operating budget.
From Oct. 16 column: "If Will Wade is smart, he won’t roster RJ Luis and stop practicing him. Cut your losses. Lane Kiffin did. Wade should also come out and publicly say, "I have no plans to roster RJ Luis.” https://t.co/OoRdW1qwzy
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) October 20, 2026
Luis’ recruitment remains at the center of the SEC’s federal lawsuit against LSU. The university requested that the lawsuit, which wildly claims LSU’s recruitment of former NFL and NBA roster members violates the SEC’s First Amendment Rights, be dismissed after Kiffin chose to leave former NFL brief roster members Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris off his official football roster early this season. But the league refused to do so, citing Wade’s ongoing push for Luis.
Norlander reports that Wade had been privately confident Luis would become eligible, but has accepted that he will be without the star guard. LSU will instead rely on former UCLA fifth-year senior point guard Donovan Dent, Michigan State transfer guard Divine Ugochukwu and Kansas State transfer guard Abdi Bashir Jr. to lead the back court. Former UCLA guard Skyy Clark is also practicing with the team, but he has not been added to the official roster or played in either of LSU’s two exhibition games.
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