Louisiana Judge Temporarily Blocks SEC from Punishing LSU Over Roster Addition

A Louisiana state judge has granted a request from lawyers representing RJ Luis Jr. to temporarily block the Southeastern Conference from punishing LSU if the player is added to the Tigers' roster. The order was issued on Wednesday by state district Judge Ronald R. Johnson in East Baton Rouge Parish.

In addition to preventing SEC sanctions, the ruling blocks LSU from using conference policies as a reason to decline playing Luis. The temporary injunction takes effect on November 3, coinciding with LSU's regular-season opener against LSU-New Orleans, and remains active until a scheduled hearing on November 13.

Judge Johnson has ordered SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and LSU officials to appear at the upcoming hearing. The legal action follows a request from Luis' attorneys, Elliot Abrams and Tony Clayton, to expand a preliminary injunction against the NCAA that the judge issued in late August.

The NCAA has argued that Luis should remain ineligible because he did not properly withdraw from the 2025 NBA Draft after spending three seasons of college basketball with two teams and earning 2025 Big East Player of the Year honors at St. John's. Although he went undrafted, Luis was briefly under contract with Utah and Boston before being recruited back to college by LSU coach Will Wade.

While the SEC did not immediately comment on Wednesday's ruling, the conference has accused LSU in a federal lawsuit of exhibiting an ongoing defiance of conference professionalism rules. The SEC maintains a long-established regulation forbidding teams from adding players with major professional experience and announced updated enforcement provisions in September granting the commissioner power to suspend coaches, fine universities up to half of a sport's budget, and restrict voting privileges.

The ongoing dispute parallels an earlier situation involving LSU football players Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, who had spent part of the offseason with NFL clubs before being recruited by first-year football coach Lane Kiffin. Under threat of being voted out of the league, LSU elected not to add those players to its roster after they received a preliminary injunction from another state judge.

The SEC subsequently filed a federal lawsuit alleging that LSU's attempts to circumvent conference rules violated the league's First Amendment right to freedom of association and enforcement of competition rules among its members. Meanwhile, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has filed briefs supporting LSU, mocked the SEC's legal position as garbage, and urged the dismissal of the federal case in which she is named as a defendant.