St. John’s star RJ Luis has been named a finalist for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award, as announced by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
The junior is one of five finalists, joining Auburn’s Chad Baker-Mazara, Duke’s freshman phenom Cooper Flagg, Kentucky’s Jaxon Robinson, and Rutgers’ Ace Bailey. Fan voting will begin on the Hall of Fame’s website on Friday, with the winner being announced ahead of the Final Four.
Luis has been one of the focal points that has helped lift St. John’s to heights unseen over the last four decades. Starting 26 of 29 games for the sixth-ranked school in the country, he is averaging a team-leading 17.8 points, which ranks fourth in the Big East, and 6.9 rebounds per game, which ranks sixth.
He is one of just two players in the Big East to rank within the conference’s top six in scoring and rebounding (Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton).
On Jan. 11 against Villanova at Madison Square Garden, he became the first Red Storm player to score 30 points in a game since Julian Champagnie three years ago.
His 1.5 steals per game ranks 12th in the Big East — a key cog in the St. John’s defensive machine. The Red Storm is ranked No. 2 in the country in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom.com.
All the while, the silverware has rolled. This season, Luis was named to the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year midseason team, March Madness Player of the Week, USBWA National Team of the Week, Big East Player of the Week two times, and MET Player of the Week twice.
