BATON ROUGE - LSU men's basketball has received a major boost to its roster plans for the 2026-27 season after a Baton Rouge judge ruled in his favor opening the door for his immediate eligibility and return to college sports.

Former St. John’s star RJ Luis was granted a preliminary injunction Monday, allowing him to play for LSU head coach Will Wade while his eligibility case against the NCAA continues.

RJ Luis wins his motion for injunctive relief and will be declared eligible to join LSU’s team pic.twitter.com/RJNDSQPmDz

— Michael Cauble (@Cauble) August 24, 2026

The ruling came nearly six hours after proceedings at the 19th Judicial District Courthouse.

At the crux of the arguments in court today were as follows:

RJ Luis Case: The rules are not applied evenly for pro players who play overseas and then come to college vs. those who play in the states. Also argued that the NCAA had previously already ruled RJ was "permanently…

— Michael Cauble (@Cauble) August 25, 2026

Luis, 23, challenged the NCAA after the organization denied eligibility to players who have signed NBA contracts, even if they never appeared in an official NBA game.

Luis went undrafted in the 2025 NBA Draft before signing a two-way contract with the Utah Jazz. He was later traded to Boston, waived, and signed with the Maine Celtics, but never appeared in a G League game because of an injury.

He did play in three preseason games for Boston, scoring six points in seven total minutes.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey opposed Luis’ return to college basketball, arguing that players who leave for professional opportunities knowingly give up their remaining eligibility.

Luis committed to LSU on May 19 after averaging 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game during his final season at St. John’s. He was named Big East Player of the Year and earned second-team AP All-American honors.

The NCAA could still seek a stay of the injunction.