"Not a projected Top 40 NBA pick": Analyst serves blunt reality following RJ Luis' decision to snub Rick Pitino's St. John's in favor of NBA draft 

The 2025 NBA draft withdrawal deadline has passed and among many names that have elected to stay in the draft, one of those is former St. John's standout RJ Luis. The junior guard will forgo his remaining college eligibility to pursue a professional career.

Luis had an outstanding season with the Red Storm, leading the team in scoring at 18.2 points per game while also contributing 7.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists. He was a key reason why Rick Pitino's team managed to win the Big East regular season and tournament titles.

His decision to remain in the draft comes as a surprise to many, considering that almost all analysts project him somewhere in the late second or even as an undrafted free agent.

Matt Norlander and Gary Parrish discussed Luis' situation on a recent episode of CBS Sports' "Eye on College Basketball" podcast.

"Let’s just speak bluntly and plainly on this: RJ Luis is not a projected top 40 NBA pick. Plenty believe he will not get selected at all," Norlander said. But when you make a decision to stay in the NBA Draft pool — and it’s an acknowledged reality around league circles that that’s just not your stock — you want to at least have a little bit of cover for why you're going to pursue this."

(from 35:03 mark onwards)

Norlander went on to question the financial aspect of Luis' decision, adding that there were a few schools that were rumored to have offered significant NIL deals to Luis, but he doubted if any of those schools were willing to pay him more than $2.5 million.

RJ Luis' father reveals they were offered huge money to stay in college

According to ESPN, several high-major programs were in pursuit of RJ Luis, including Kansas, North Carolina, Villanova and Ole Miss. However, the decision has been made and he will remain in the NBA draft.

Luis' dad, Reggie Luis, joined "The Field of 68" podcast to share some insight on his son's future via NJ.com:

"There will be no change of heart. RJ’s excited about the future ... He wants to leave college as a Johnnie. We understand the situation, we were offered a lot of money to go back to college. But we have a plan and we’re going to stick with the plan."

However, things are not looking good for Luis, as ESPN's post-Combine mock draft does not include him in either of the two rounds.