RJ Luis Jr.’s first season at St. John’s didn’t go as he hoped.
The high-scoring guard struggled to stay healthy throughout that 2023-24 campaign after transferring from UMass as a sophomore to join Rick Pitino in Queens.
A broken hand delayed Luis’ St. John’s debut last season, while nagging shin splints limited his production and ultimately required surgery this past offseason.
What a difference a year made.
Luis was named the Big East Player of the Year for 2025 on Wednesday after his breakout season helped lead the Red Storm to a 27-4 record and their first outright regular-season conference championship since 1985.
The 6-7 junior’s 18.1 points per game ranked fourth in the Big East in the regular season, while his 7.1 rebounds ranked sixth. His length and athleticism were key factors in St. John’s boasting the best defense in the conference.
That’s after Luis averaged 10.9 points and 4.6 rebounds in 23 games, including 10 starts, last season.
“I think it’s mostly me being healthy,” Luis said in November after a fast start to the season. “Just the person that I am, I put a lot of work into my craft. Now I’m stepping up as one of the best defenders. … I’m gonna play-make. I’m gonna score. I’m really just playing both sides of the ball.”
The finalists for Player of the Year were the six players who made the All-Big East first team.
Joining Luis on that list was teammate Zuby Ejiofor, who was named the conference’s Most Improved Player after averaging 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.
The other finalists included Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner, who averaged 19.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game and won Big East Defensive Player of the Year for a fourth time; and Villanova forward Eric Dixon, who left the conference in scoring at 23.6 points per game.
Luis capped his Big East Player of the Year candidacy with a 28-point performance in Saturday’s 86-84 overtime win at Marquette. He scored at least 21 points in five of the Red Storm’s final seven games, including each of the last three.
“It would be a blessing to receive the award,” Luis said Saturday. “I think it would be an honor. What I did from last year to this year, just my transition with my surgery and everything like that, I think it’s a pretty awesome story.”