RJ Luis Jr. transfer portal: Top 5 landing spots for St. John's guard ft. Duke

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament Second Round-Arkansas at St. Johns - Source: Imagn

RJ Luis Jr. and the No. 2 St. John's Red Storm had an early exit from March Madness. They lost 75-66 to the No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks in the second round on March 22. Luis sat on the bench for the final five minutes and coach Rick Pitino discussed the decision after the game.

"No, he played 30 minutes and I went with other people," Pitino said. "You already know the answers, Roger. You’re asking leading questions. You already know it. Don’t ask leading questions, you already know why he didn’t play."

While Pitino defended his decision, it was still controversial to bench the team's leading scorer.

On Saturday, Luis announced that he was entering the transfer portal. Let's look at five teams that could be a good fit for him.

Top 5 landing spots for RJ Luis Jr. in the transfer portal

#1. Duke

Duke is one of the favorites to win March Madness this year, but next season could be different. Not only is superstar Cooper Flagg leaving the team for the NBA, but Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach are also leaving.

The Blue Devils will need to be active in the transfer portal and there will be few better scorers available than RJ Luis Jr.

#2. Alabama

The Alabama Crimson Tide will lose several top players to the NBA draft, including Labaron Philon and Mark Sears. If the Crimson Tide want to have another competitive season, they will need to add a scorer in the transfer portal. Luis would be a good option.

#3. Michigan State

The Michigan State Spartans' top two scorers, Jaden Akins and Jase Richardson, are out of NCAA eligibility after this season. If the Spartans want to reach the Elite Eight again next season, they will need to add someone like RJ Luis Jr. in the transfer portal.

#4. Texas Tech

Texas Tech is a team built around its forwards and could use scoring depth. Additionally, it is losing two of its best guards, Chance McMillian and Elijah Hawkins, to the NBA. As a result, adding Luis would make sense.

#5. Houston

The Cougars will lose their leading scorer, L.J. Cryer, in the offseason. If they are looking for scoring help in the transfer portal, RJ Luis Jr. might be their best option.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Ribin Peter