St. John’s basketball player RJ Luis Jr. is keeping all options open for his future. Luis is declaring for the NBA Draft while also entering the transfer portal, per Draft Express.
Luis will be highly sought-after from other programs. He finished the 2024-25 college basketball regular season as the Big East Player of the Year. He also was the MVP of the Big East Tournament, after leading the St. John’s basketball team to a title.
Things went awry for Luis in the NCAA tournament. He got benched in the team’s Round of 32 game against Arkansas. Luis sat in the final minutes of the game, as Arkansas pulled away with a victory.
St. John’s is the only no. 2 seed in March Madness not to make the Elite Eight.
St. John’s basketball is rebuilding under coach Rick Pitino
St. John’s basketball had a very special season under coach Rick Pitino. Pitino is in his second year at the school. He won the program’s first Big East tournament championship in 25 years, along with 31 total games.
Pitino will need to work the transfer portal to replace Luis. Luis finished the season leading St. John’s basketball in scoring. He averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds a game this season. Luis regularly posted double-doubles as the regular season came to an end.
During the Arkansas game in the NCAA tournament, it puzzled the TV broadcasters as to why Luis wasn’t playing with five minutes left. St. John’s lost to Arkansas, 75-66. When asked about Luis afterward, Pitino didn’t give a specific reason.
“He played 30 minutes. I played other people,” Pitino said after the Arkansas loss, per ESPN. “You’re asking leading questions, so don’t ask me any questions. You already know why he didn’t play.”
If Luis does decide to stay in college, he would possibly be playing for his third program. He started his career at UMass before joining St. John’s.
The good news for St. John’s with this departure is that help might be on the way. St. John’s got a commitment from talented shooting guard Joson Sanon. Sanon is transferring out of Arizona State to join the Red Storm. He averaged 11.9 points per game this past season.
There are hundreds upon hundreds of other players in the transfer portal this offseason. St. John’s basketball will clearly be looking for other prospects to join Sanon.
March Madness games continue on Saturday, as the Elite Eight round begins. St. John’s fans hope the team makes it to that round next year. The school last made the Elite Eight in 1999, under coach Mike Jarvis.
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