BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Recently re-hired LSU coach Will Wade is in the process of signing former professional player RJ Luis Jr., a person with knowledge of the move said Tuesday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because LSU had not announced or acknowledged the move, which is expected to result in a petition to the NCAA to restore Luis' eligibility.
Luis played three seasons in college — one at UMass and two at St.
John's. He declared for the NBA draft in 2025 after being named the Big East player of the year.
After going undrafted, the 6-foot-7 Luis signed a two-way contract with the Utah Jazz and was traded to the Boston Celtics. However, Luis never appeared in a game in either the NBA or the G League, and that is expected to be element of his argument as to why the NCAA should allow him to suit up for Wade's Tigers.
Luis played in 85 games with 52 starts and averaged 14.1 points per game during his college career. During his final season at St. John's, he averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 47.5% overall and 33.6% from 3-point range.
While there is precedent for the NCAA granting eligibility to international students who have played professionally overseas, the NCAA last season denied former G League player Charles Bediako's bid to resume his college career at Alabama.
Bediako sued to have his eligibility restored and was able to play five games for the Crimson Tide while a temporary restraining order was in effect, but he was barred from finishing the season when a judge denied his petition for injunctive relief.
Wade, who was forced to take a year off from coaching at the college level after being fired with cause by LSU in March of 2022, returned as the Tigers' coach in March after coaching one season at N.C. State.
While Wade's teams were successful on the court at LSU, his career was briefly derailed by a recruiting scandal surrounding payments to players that were not permitted at the time, but are now.
After Wade served his suspension, he was hired as the coach at McNeese in Louisiana. He led the Cowboys to two NCAA Tournament appearances before moving on to N.C. State.
Since coming back to the Bayou, Wade has gone about overhauling LSU's roster.
While LSU currently is not listing any players on its 2026-27 roster, 22-year-old Mo Dioubate has announced his intention to transfer from Kentucky. And Wade reportedly is in the process of signing a half-dozen experienced players, including: 25-year-old Israeli pro Yam Madar; 23-year-old EuroLeague pro Brice Dessert of France; 23-year-old EuroLeague player Marcio Santos of Brazil; 23-year-old UTSA transfer Austin Nunez; 22-year-old Kansas State transfer Abdi Bashir; and 20-year-old Michigan State transfer Divine Ugochukwu.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
