On Monday, East Baton Rouge Parish District Court Judge Ronald R. Johnson delivered a verdict that may not sit right with many. RJ Luis Jr. was granted a preliminary injunction against the NCAA, allowing the 6-foot-7 wing to practice and potentially play for LSU in the upcoming 2026-27 season.

The decision came after a five-hour hearing and gives Luis a pathway back to college basketball following his brief attempt to make it in the NBA. So, while speaking with Michael Cauble after the ruling, Luis’ attorney Elliot Sol Abrams took aim at the Collegiate Athletic Association’s repeated warnings about the consequences of eligibility challenges.

“I hear that every time we do one of these eligibility cases, ‘This is going to be the end of the NCAA.’ That is not true,” Abrams said as per a post on X. “The NCAA chose to allow schools to start pay players directly. It made that choice. It could have fought that, but it chose not to. And so when you create the NCAA now as a professional league, and then you start drawing these arbitrary distinctions and saying, ‘Well, this is too much, or that’s too much.’ All of these things, every time someone challenges an arbitrary decision of the NCAA, the NCAA cries wolf, ‘This is going to be the end of the NCAA.'”

“This is just a judge forcing the NCAA to live up to the law, as so many judges have had to do because the NCAA has decided to try to draw distinctions that don’t stand up to reason,” he further added.

At the heart of RJ Luis Jr.’s case is his unusual path back to college basketball.

Although he declared for the 2025 NBA Draft after a breakout junior season at St. John’s, where he averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds, he went undrafted. But he later signed a two-way contract with the Utah Jazz before joining the Boston Celtics organization.

Luis played in three preseason games for Boston before being waived, and later signed with the Maine Celtics. However, an injury kept him from playing in the G League, meaning he never appeared in an NBA or G League regular-season game.

And that has been a major point for Luis’ attorneys, who argued that the NCAA has allowed players with professional experience overseas to enter college basketball while treating Luis differently despite his limited time actually playing professionally.

But the NCAA saw this situation differently.

During the hearing on Monday, the Association’s attorney argued that RJ Luis Jr. made the decision to leave college for the NBA, which means his situation is not comparable to international players who competed in overseas developmental leagues before coming to the NCAA.

But the judge ultimately sided with Luis for now, saying that, in the court’s view, he “did not actually play professional basketball.”

The ruling only grants a preliminary injunction, so the legal fight is far from over. Still, for now, LSU and head coach Will Wade have gotten an immediate boost from the decision as the broader legal process continues.

RJ Luis Jr. All Set to Make His Debut With the Tigers

Beyond his legal battle, Luis’ return now gives coach Wade another proven piece to work with as he builds his roster for the upcoming season.

The Tigers have already brought in plenty of talent this offseason, including former UCLA guard Donovan Dent, who won Mountain West Player of the Year at New Mexico. Divine Ugochukwu, Skyy Clark, Abdi Bashir Jr. and Mouhamed Dioubate will also be a part of the roster.

So, with RJ Luis Jr. now joining them, the Tigers have another player who can make an impact on both ends of the floor, especially after LSU suffered a disappointing loss to the Kentucky Wildcats in the opening round of the 2025-26 SEC Tournament.

With the new season right around the corner, the Tigers are shaping up to be a very different team from the one that bowed out of the tournament last season. And now, after spending months waiting on a decision about his future, RJ Luis Jr. finally knows where he will be when LSU takes the court.