LSU men's basketball received bad news for its roster scholarship situation on Tuesday.
According to CBS Sports' Matt Norlander, former St. John's guard and 2025 Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis will not be granted a fifth year of eligibility by the SEC, and LSU is expected to back down from pursuing legal action in an attempt to make him eligible for the 2026-27 season.
He committed to LSU in May.
The denial of a fifth year from the SEC is in response to Luis having signed atwo-way NBA contract with the Utah Jazz and an Exhibit 10 deal with the Boston Celtics after going undrafted in the 2025 NBA Draft.
The SEC in August — at the height of fifth year of eligibility lawsuits
following the NCAA's eligibility guidelines to an age-based "5-for-5" model — announced a conference policy that would prohibit an athlete from playing for an SEC member program if they previously declared for the NFL, NBA or WNBA drafts and did not withdraw from them; signed a professional contract; or were listed on a professional roster.
Luis played for Rick Pitino at St. John's from 2023-2025 and was one of the top guards in the Big East. In his junior season with the Red Storm, Luis led the team to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big East Tournament. He earned a second-team All-American nod after averaging 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.
"We're going to follow all the SEC protocols with him," LSU coach Will Wade said on a media Zoom call Oct. 13 (LSU did not attend SEC media days in Birmingham due to weather). "I think it's been pretty clear what the SEC protocols are on all that. He didn't travel with us to McNeese and he hasn't been rostered."
Last week, the SEC added the Tigers' men's basketball program to its latest court filings in opposition to LSU's motion to dismiss the conference's lawsuit. The conference argues that LSU's basketball recruiting practices represent further evidence of what it characterizes as ongoing defiance of SEC professionalism rules and failure to maintain institutional control.
The Tigers' roster situation remains one of the team's biggest question marks entering the season, which begins in just a few weeks, as several scholarship players continue to await decisions in their eligibility cases.
Citing sources, Norlander also noted that 2025 NBA Draft pick Saliou Niang has been cleared to play at LSU, as Niang had not previously been enrolled in college. He also mentioned that French center Brice Dessert is expected to be cleared soon.
The Tigers list UCLA transfer Donovan Dent, one of their other high-profile portal pickups, on their official online roster, as he is eligible for now. Fellow Bruins transfer Skyy Clark is not on the roster, as his fifth-year eligibility case remains in limbo.
LSU is set to open up the season on Tuesday, Nov. 3 against LSU New Orleans at 8 p.m. ET.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LSU's RJ Luis gamble appears over: SEC denies fifth year request, per report
