RJ Luis Enters Transfer Portal, Declares for 2025 NBA Draft After St. John's Breakout

St. John's star RJ Luis, fresh off winning Big East Player of the Year, is declaring for the 2025 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility.

Sam Permut, Luis' agent, told ESPN's Jonathan Givony that Luis is declaring for the draft and entering the transfer portal.

Luis began his college career at Massachusetts in 2022-23 before transferring to St. John's the following year to play for Rick Pitino.

After a pedestrian debut season for the Red Storm, Luis took off as a junior in 2024-25. He averaged career-highs in points per game (18.2), rebounds (7.2), assists (2.0) and steals (1.4).

Luis was a driving force behind St. John's tying a single-season program record with 31 wins and earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. It marked the program's first tournament since the 2018-19 season.

The Red Storm beat Omaha in the first round for their first tournament victory in 10 years, but their season ended with a second-round loss to Arkansas.

Luis' NBA prospects don't seem particularly high right now. He did not make it into Jonathan Wasserman's most recent two-round mock draft that published on March 24.

Givony has Luis ranked as the No. 72 overall prospect in the 2025 draft class.

Entering the NBA draft allows Luis to receive feedback from teams that he can use to inform his decision, while maintaining college eligibility gives him a fallback plan if he doesn't like what he hears.

Given how well Luis played for a St. John's team that was among the best in the nation this season, there will almost certainly be a lot of college programs lining up for his services.