Will Wade had his first official media availability with reporters since his introductory press conference as coach on March 30, and the LSU men’s basketball coach addressed the status of former St. John’s star RJ Luis, who spent time with two NBA franchises.
The Tigers coach said that he’s had all 15 players practicing since Sept. 2 and has each player signed. This includes Luis, who was granted a preliminary injunction on Aug. 24, allowing him to play at LSU after the Southeastern Conference implemented rules that would bar his participation.
“With him, we’re gonna go through the process,” Wade said. “We’re going to abide by what, what the SEC tells us to abide by. We’re not trying to do anything untoward towards any of that. So we’re going to go through processes, and we’ll see where that ends up.”
Luis is among the three or four players Wade referred to without directly naming that have hurdles to overcome in terms of eligibility. With Luis, whom he never directly named, he said he didn’t want to give more details.
“Outside of one, because the SEC, you know, they hold everybody’s words against them. So I want to be careful about not doing anything with that. But outside of that one, I think everybody knows who I’m talking about.”
Luis’s current challenge in playing comes after SEC presidents, chancellors and athletic directors voted to set rules to prevent member schools from rostering athletes who fit any of these three criteria:
Previously declared for the NFL, NBA or WNBA draft, and did not “appropriately withdraw” from those drafts.
Signed a contract with an NFL or other professional league, NBA or G-League, or WNBA or affiliated team.
Been listed on a roster by any of those professional teams.
Luis signed a two-way contract with the Utah Jazz in June of 2025 before being traded to the Boston Celtics two months later. He was waived by the Celtics in October before signing a contract with the Celtics’ NBA G-League affiliate, the Main Celtics. He was waived by the G-League team before the start of the season because of an injury.
The first time LSU will take the court will be for an exhibition game against McNeese State on Oct. 8 at Townsley Law Arena in Lake Charles. Wade coached the Cowboys from 2023-25 and led them to back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths.