Ex-St. John’s star Luis Jr. to remain in NBA draft

Jonathan Givony Close Jonathan Givony ESPN NBA draft analyst and writer Signed up with

ESPN.com in July

2017

Founder and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a personal scouting and analytics service utilized by NBA, NCAA and global teams Jeff Borzello Close Jeff Borzello ESPN Personnel Author Basketball recruiting insider. Signed up with ESPN in 2014. Graduate of University of Delaware.May 28

• , 2025, 05:48 PM ET Previous St. John’s
• star RJ Luis Jr., the Big East
• Gamer of the Year and a second-team All-American, is keeping his name in the NBA draft, his representative, Sam Permut of Roc Nation, informed ESPN on Wednesday.Luis was the best available player in the NCAA transfer portal, and was being hired by the likes of North Carolina, Kansas, Ole Miss, Villanova and Georgetown, leaving those programs to search elsewhere in trying to finish their lineups this off-season. The 6-foot-7 little forward enjoyed one of the most significant breakout seasons in the nation, averaging 18.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while making

  enormous strides as a defender and shotmaker. Luis was at his best down the stretch of the Big East season, choosing 28 points and 11 rebounds in the regular-season ending at Marquette and putting up 29 points and 10 rebounds in the Big East competition championship game against Creighton.In addition to Big East Player of the Year, Luis earned Big East tournament MVP honors after leading St. John’s to the conference’s regular-season and competition titles.Despite his terrific project, Luis’St. John’s profession didn’t end on a high note. After scoring 22 points and making five 3-pointers in the first round of the NCAA competition versus Omaha, Luis had a hard time in the Red Storm

  ‘s second-round loss to Arkansas. He shot 3-for-17 from the field and stopped working to reach double figures in scoring for simply the second time this season.Pitino benched Luis for the final 4:56 of the 75-66 loss.One week after that game, Luis announced he was entering the NBA draft as well as the transfer website. He was invited to the NBA draft integrate, averaging 14.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the 2 5-on-5 skirmishes. Luis was inconsistent shooting

  the ball, though, going 9-for-29 from the field and 3-for-10 from 3-point range.Luis, a Miami local, began his college profession with one season at UMass before moving to St. John’s in 2023. He averaged 10.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game during his first project with the Red Storm.