A Louisiana federal judge has temporarily cleared a basketball player who signed an NBA contract to return to college sports and play for LSU.
Judge Ronald Johnson issued a temporary restraining order this week to allow RJ Luis Jr., a former Big East Player of the Year, to be eligible to play and practice with LSU, according to ESPN.
The temporary injunction will take effect on November 3rd and last until November 13th, allowing Luis, who has signed two NBA contracts, the ability to play in the school’s first three games.
Johnson’s injunction prevents the SEC from punishing LSU if it adds Luis, who has never appeared in an NBA regular-season game, to the team’s roster.
According to Luis’ attorney, Tony Clayton Jr., if LSU does not play Luis, then he will ask a judge to hold head coach Will Wade in contempt, which could result in a fine up to $1,000 and six months in prison, ESPN reported.
“I’m telling you we’re going to use the long arm of the law to force Will Wade to play him because I’m not going to allow these folks to play musical chairs,” Clayton told ESPN.
“We would bring in Coach Wade and move to hold him in constructive contempt. I would not advise anyone to be in contempt of court. This judge is real,” he added.
LSU previously said it would not add Luis to its basketball roster.
Wade told media members on Thursday that he could not speak about Luis’ ongoing legal battle.
In a statement to USA Today, the NCAA said, “Common sense eligibility rules are intended to ensure college students play college sports, not professional athletes looking for a fallback-option.”
“These cases tilt the playing field in favor of one individual or one team — to the detriment of other would-be student-athletes and teams that play by the rules — and are exactly why the House should pass the bipartisan (Protect College Sports Act) to set nationwide standards ensuring college students get a fair opportunity to compete for a national championship – not professional athletes,” the NCAA noted.
The SEC has not publicly commented since the judge granted Luis a temporary injunction.
The SEC currently has an ongoing lawsuit against LSU, claiming the school attempted to circumvent conference eligibility rules that prevent players who signed professional contracts with certain professional football and basketball leagues from returning to play in the conference.
The conference’s lawsuit originally concerned LSU’s football team attempting to add two former Ole Miss players, Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, who signed NFL contracts, to its roster. The SEC later cited LSU’s recruitment of Luis as evidence of how the school was actively defying conference eligibility rules.
Last week, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill asked a federal court to throw out the case.
“There is no good reason to waste this Court’s time and resources—the Court should summarily dismiss the SEC’s complaint without prejudice to the SEC’s ability to file a real case,” she said.
According to The Associated Press, 200 eligibility-related lawsuits representing an estimated 850 plaintiffs have been filed against the NCAA since June.
Of those plaintiffs, 362 come from men’s college basketball, whose season starts on Sunday.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
