St. John's likely to get RJ Luis back for Holy Cross game
St. John’s finally is going to be at full strength.
RJ Luis has missed the first five games of the season after suffering a broken left hand in early October. He began practicing last Saturday while the Red Storm played in the Charleston Classic in South Carolina. All signs now point to the 6-7 forward playing Saturday when the Red Storm (3-2) host Holy Cross at Carnesecca Arena.
The Crusaders are 2-4, including a one-point win over struggling Georgetown.
Luis, a sophomore transfer from the University of Massachusetts who chose St. John’s over Louisville and Texas A&M, was an Atlantic 10 all-freshman team selection after averaging 11.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals last season. The Miami native is considered a strong offensive performer who can get his own shot, something Rick Pitino wants more of from his team.
“What RJ brings to the table is he can — like Daniss [Jenkins] — he can create off the bounce,” Pitino said. “There’s not a lot of guys on this team that can create off the bounce.”
“He’s long [and] he’ll be able to defend well,” teammate Chris Ledlum said. “He’ll create off the dribble and he’ll give us something that we need.”
Pitino appeared ready to play Luis in Sunday’s third-place game against Utah — a 91-82 win — even though he had been in only one practice.
The coach, however, said Luis didn’t feel prepared.
“I wanted to play RJ, but he didn’t feel he was ready,” Pitino said after the game. “And I always respect the player’s wishes because they all want to play. He said, ‘Look, I need more than one practice after missing six weeks,’ and definitely I understand that.”
Luis is viewed primarily as a small forward, though Pitino said he might be able to play some minutes at power forward against smaller lineups.
St. John’s has started Glenn Taylor Jr. at small forward in four of five games and he has averaged 7.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 25.4 minutes. Taylor is 6-for-13 on three-point attempts. As Luis gets his feel back, he could challenge for a spot in the starting lineup.
Pitino said it is unlikely that Taylor and Luis will play in the same lineup.
There have been concerns about St. John’s rebounding at all five spots, something Pitino has been emphasizing, and Luis has shown that to be a potential strength. “I think RJ is going to give us rebounds, which will be good. That’s one big plus,” Pitino said.
Depth had appeared to be one of the Red Storm’s strengths going into the season. Pitino’s rotation is evolving. He has felt that he played Ledlum, Jenkins or center Joel Soriano too many minutes in a contest. A strong performance by Nahiem Alleyne off the bench in the win over the Utes has allayed some of those fears, and the return of Luis could quell them further.
Asked last weekend about Luis possibly coming back, Ledlum replied: “RJ is obviously a great player. He’s going to help us a good deal. He’s an all-around player and can do a bunch of things. It would be great having him back.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
