A  6-7 junior guard/forward from Miami, FL, RJ Luis, who also was named the Big East Conference player of the year --- played his freshman season in 2022-23 at the University of Massachusetts, then transferred to St. John’s in what has to be regarded as one of the most impactful moves in college basketball.

Team success came in the form of a 20-13 record as a sophomore in 2023-24. Then, surrounded by a very talented squadron of teammates, Luis emerged as a shining star this past season as the Red Storm surged to a 31-5 overall record, an 18-2 mark that captured the Big East Conference regular season title, a dominating performance at Madison Square Garden in annexing the Big East tournament crown and a subsequent automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

And now, Luis represents the 28th time a player from St. John’s has been awarded the MBWA’s Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award as the most outstanding Division I men’s player in the Met realm. In addition, for the 2024-25 season, he received four All-American playing acclamations: AP, NABC and USBWA National Second Team; plus The Sporting News’ Third Team. Even further, for his achievements in the classroom --- a 3.86 GPA majoring in Sports Management --- Luis was selected as the College Sports Communicators Academic Team Member of the Year.

Starting in 32 games this past season, Luis produced a team-leading 637 points (18.2 ppg) along with 251 rebounds (7.2 rpg), numbers that both ranked fourth in the conference. He also had 71 assists and 49 steals while shooting 43.9% from the field and 74.7% at the free throw line. Luis led the Big East with 10 double-doubles, including a 29-point, 10-rebound performance in St. John’s Big East Tournament championship game victory over Creighton.

In his three seasons of college basketball, Luis has totaled 1,198 points and 479 rebounds.

Check out his season highlight package:https://youtu.be/XMvm-q0IJww