00:00Former St. John's guard and 2025 Big East Player of the Year, R.J. Lewis Jr. has signed with LSU
00:07after spending last season in the G League. Let's talk to our NCAA basketball reporter for The Post,
00:14Zach Braziller, because I need you to make this make sense for me, Zach. All right.
00:20Before, I'm going to set you up here and the floor is yours, sir. This is the same R.J.
00:25Lewis Jr. that
00:26left St. John's, entered the 2025 draft, went undrafted, signed a two-way deal with the Jazz,
00:32got traded to the Celtics, waived by Boston, and then he spent last season in the G League. So,
00:38make it make sense. Why even go back to college? Is it the money? Does he still have credits left
00:45to take? Make it make sense for us, Zach. Yeah, it's, look, it's obviously, this is a financial
00:52thing. It's why you're seeing a lot of guys who've been in the G League or Europe come to
00:59college. The money is obviously very good. You know, R.J. made a mistake. He should have
01:06not went pro last year. He was never going to be the first-round pick. He was, at best,
01:11a mid-to-late second-rounder. Didn't get drafted. Had some injury issues last year after, you know,
01:18signing a two-way. Yeah, it's, you know, it kind of came out of left field, obviously.
01:29There have been some rumors about Will Wade, LSU, trying to bring him in. But yeah, it's,
01:36this is clearly, he made a mistake. He should have never, he should have used, you know, made,
01:42you know, cashed in this past season and whether it was at St. John's or somewhere else. But he made
01:47a
01:47mistake, went pro, didn't get drafted, you know, bounced around the G League. And now he wants,
01:55he wants another crack at it. You know, I mean, I'm 41 years old, Zach. You know, we've grown up.
02:01We've all made mistakes in our lower, in our younger 20s. I can't talk about my mistakes right here
02:07during an interview or anything, but we've made them. There's been, there's been worse things have
02:11happened. But is he even eligible to play college basketball? And if not, one, why would Will Wade
02:19and LSU sign him? Two, what would be his path to becoming eligible if there is one?
02:26Yeah, no, he's not. He's not eligible. The NCAA has made this clear. If you sign an NBA contract,
02:36you cannot come back to college. If you've played in college, you've gone through the draft process,
02:42and then you sign an NBA deal, you are not eligible. RJ has done that. He had signed two
02:47different two-way contracts. He, you know, we had the same situation with Alabama's Charles
02:55Bediaco last year where, you know, he had, he had signed NBA deals and he got, they got a,
03:04a preliminary injunction from a Alabama leaning judge. But then the NCAA got it to a higher court
03:14and he was ruled ineligible because that's the rule. The rule is if you sign, like you could,
03:21we could say the rules are dumb all we want and say, well, why are there 23-year-old Europeans
03:26allowed to, you know, who've been playing in professional in Europe? But the, the NCAA has
03:30stood firm with this. This is the line you can't cross where if you sign an NBA contract, whether
03:37it's a standard deal or a two-way deal, you're not eligible. So I, yeah, I don't, um, obviously LSU
03:44is going to, going to take this to court, try to find a, a favorable judge. I just, there's a
03:50precedent
03:50here with, with Charles Bediaco in Alabama just last year that, and they, and they lost. So I don't
03:56understand how the Charles Bediaco case, how he would lose that case and then RJ would win. I don't,
04:04um, I don't see how those are different at all. So let's say they don't find a judge that will
04:11rule
04:12into his favor. Do you feel like this will permanently affect the new trend of college
04:19basketball of trying to go out and sign G leaguers and Euro leaguers? Does that put that to bed
04:26forever? You feel like, well, look, you can do it as long as a guy, you know, hasn't signed the
04:35NBA
04:35contracts. Um, you know, like, you know, you, you can like tech, you know, we've seen it. You can play
04:43in summer league, but if you haven't signed an NBA deal and you have eligibility, you can do it. Um,
04:51but yeah, I mean, look, there, there obviously is a lot of stuff going on. There's this proposed five
04:57and five year rule where, you know, that is, looks like it's going to happen at some point, um,
05:03where like guys have five years to be eligible for, you know, eligible. So like a guy who is,
05:09you know, five years past high school, like who's 25, isn't going to be eligible. Um, there'll look,
05:17there are a million things that need to be cleaned up here. I don't think there's any question about
05:21that. Um, but yeah, I like until something changes, I still think you're going to see got teams looking
05:28at G league and Euro league guys because experiences is good. Old, old, you want to be
05:34old now in college basketball. Um, so, you know, in terms of the current rules, but I, I look, yeah,
05:40I don't, it's pretty clear. We'll wait, it's desperate. Um, they just signed a 26 year old,
05:46uh, from the Euro league. Um, and this, you know, this kind of is in line with this. He, he
05:54knows
05:54it's a RJ Lewis is a long shot to be eligible. Like there's no question about that. He knows it,
06:00but he thinks it's worth the risk. So if RJ doesn't get the eligibility now, what for him?
06:08You know, he could obviously try back, go back to G league. I personally, I, I, I, to me,
06:13he should go overseas. Um, there's good money overseas. You've seen plenty of former St.
06:18John's guys. You know, if you go back to the Lavin days, sir, Dominic pointer, D'Angelo Harrison,
06:25uh, Phil green, who've made really good money overseas. Um, yeah, I just, that, that to me is
06:33probably what he should do and make good money and go, go overseas. Um, but you know, he could
06:38always try, try, try the G league again. Um, I just, I don't, um, I don't see how this,
06:44this stunt is going to help him in terms of the NBA though.
06:48All right, Zach, appreciate you hopping on with us. You know, I'd keep this going,
06:52but I'm going to go check to see how much eligibility I have left. Cause I'm trying to
06:55make me go back to UMass, man. That's what I was. RJ was at UMass. I can go back to
07:00you.
07:00Right. Let's like, let's, you know, let's admit it, man. We'll go back for that check.
07:05Uh, Zach Braziller, man. Appreciate you hopping on with us.
07:09All right, man. Have a good one.
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