RJ Luis Jr. Named to Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Watch List

2/5/2025 1:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball

St. John’s junior wing selected by Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as one of 10 players to watch for prestigious honor

QUEENS, N.Y. – The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has named RJ Luis Jr. to its Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year award Top 10 Watch List, as announced on Wednesday.

A junior wing from Miami, Luis is one of 10 players named the watch list for the honor that recognizes the top small forward in college basketball. Luis joins Chad Baker-Mazara (Auburn), Cooper Flagg (Duke), Payton Sandfort (Iowa), Jaxon Robinson (Kentucky), Jalon Moore (Oklahoma), Ace Bailey (Rutgers), Miles Byrd (San Diego State), Liam McNeeley (UConn) and Ian Jackson (North Carolina) on the prestigious list.

Beginning on Feb. 7, fan voting will open to help determine the five finalists, which will be announced in March. The winner will be announced during the 2025 Final Four.

Luis leads the No. 12/11 St. John's men's basketball team averaging 17.4 points per game, which ranks fourth highest in the BIG EAST. He also stands top-5 in the league in rebounding averaging 6.8 boards per contests and tied for first with teammate Zuby Ejiofor with seven double-doubles.

In Tuesday's win over No. 11/11 Marquette, 70-64, the program's highest ranked win since 2023, Luis shined recording 17 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and a career-high three blocks at Madison Square Garden.

Luis has engineered double-digit scoring performances in 25 of his last 27 appearances at St. John's. He has tallied six 20-point outings and became the first Johnnie to pour in 30 points since Julian Champagnie in 2022 with a 30-point 10-rebound double-double against Villanova on Jan. 11.

Earlier this week, Luis was one of 50 players in the country named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List. This season, he has earned BIG EAST and Metropolitan Basketball Writers' Association Player of the Week honors and has been named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll three times on Nov. 11, Nov. 18 and Dec. 2.

Luis and the Johnnies, winners of nine consecutive, will look to remain hot when they travel to No. 19/18 UConn for a Friday showdown at Gampel Pavilion on FOX at 8 p.m.