Sankey fights RJ Luis's LSU eligibility in court filing
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- Greg Sankey filed an affidavit in East Baton Rouge Parish court asking Judge Ronald Johnson to uphold NCAA rules blocking former professional athletes from returning to college, specifically opposing RJ Luis's eligibility at LSU.
- Sankey wrote that preventing former pros from returning is "essential to the integrity of college sports" and creates "competitive disadvantage and fundamental unfairness" for student-athletes who maintained their collegiate commitment.
- RJ Luis, the former St. John's Big East Player of the Year, is seeking to play for LSU in 2026-27 after going undrafted in the 2025 NBA Draft, signing a two-way deal with the Utah Jazz, being traded to Boston, and being waived by the G League's Maine Celtics due to injury.
- Luis logged just eight total minutes across three Celtics preseason games and filed a preliminary injunction on Aug. 3, with a hearing set for Monday in Baton Rouge.
- Luis is part of the 2022 high school class that won a class-wide preliminary injunction in Colorado earlier this month allowing those athletes to return to college competition.
- Sankey previously filed a similar affidavit in February opposing former Alabama center Charles Bediako's return after a G League stint; Bediako played five SEC games before being ruled ineligible.
- LSU has only four players guaranteed eligible this season under first-year coach Will Wade, who recently added former UCLA guard Skyy Clark from the super-senior market.
Why it matters: With a Colorado court already granting a class-wide injunction to the 2022 high school class and Sankey personally intervening twice in seven months — once against Bediako and now against Luis — the eligibility fight is shifting from campus compliance offices to courtrooms, and a ruling for Luis could open the door for similar claims against SEC and Power-conference programs.
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