Ex-St. Johns star RJ Luis on cusp of NBA draft possibilities he once couldnt have imagined
Four years ago, RJ Luis Jr.couldn’t have imagined this.Forget playing in the NBA.
Even big-time college basketball was far from a given.Luis held just two Division I scholarship offers, from Northeastern and Lamar University.He didn’t want to settle, so the Miami native opted to do a prep year at Mount Zion Prep in Maryland.That’s when everything changed.“Once I went to prep school, I kind of made that jump and started to figure out myself and my work ethic,” he recalled in a phone interview with The Post.
“Everything just clicked.Since then, it’s been a gradual [climb], improving and getting better as a player.“I wouldn’t change it.
The stuff that we go through in life is what makes us.It’s just super cool to see all my hard work paying off.”The former St.
John’s star is on the cusp of a professional career, a projected second-round pick in this week’s NBA Draft.He worked out for 18 teams and took part in the scouting combine in Chicago.The past few months have been a whirlwind for the 6-foot-7 wing.In March, he became the first Johnnie to be named the Big East Player of the Year since Walter Berry in 1986.
He led St.John’s to its first Big East Tournament title since 2000 as the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.
Afterward, he called it the best week of his life.But the following weekend, second-seeded St.John’s was upset by Arkansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and Luis struggled through a nightmarish 3-for-17 shooting performance.
He was benched over the final 4:56 by coach Rick Pitino.Luis declared for the NBA Draft and entered the transfer portal a week after that disappointment.There was some thought he could return to school — top transfers were getting upward of $3 million — but Luis opted to stick with his initial plan of going pro.“The money in the NBA is night and day compared to college.It wasn’t a hard decision,” Luis said.
“My goal was to do the same thing at St.John’s my sopho...