Will Wade’s LSU roster could finally stop looking like a placeholder on Monday.
That’s the first day of classes at LSU, and it may be the day the new coach’s list of four unnamed players on the school website starts turning into something much closer to a real roster. Wade has been telling media members for months that the pieces were coming, and now several of those commitments may become official signees.
The biggest name in the mix is former St. John’s forward RJ Luis, though his situation comes with legal complications.
The 6-foot-7 forward was the Big East player of the year in 2024-25, when he averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds. He later signed NBA contracts with the Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics, which usually creates NCAA eligibility issues.
LSU’s lawyers have been working on the matter for months and have found a local judge to hear it.
Luis is scheduled to appear Monday at 1:30 p.m. in 19th District Judge Ronald R. Johnson’s East Baton Rouge Parish court, and a favorable ruling would not be a shock. LSU and Luis have filed a lawsuit against the NCAA seeking to have those NBA contracts disregarded because he played in no regular season games.
Wade already picked up another important win in court Tuesday with UCLA fifth-year senior guard Skyy Clark. Clark is headed to LSU for the 2026-27 season after he and 72 other college athletes suing the NCAA for a fifth season were granted a temporary restraining order, according to the Texas Trial Group.
Clark averaged 11.5 points per game last season for UCLA, which reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and he shot 47 percent from three-point range. He was ranked the No. 7 point guard in the country out of Montverde Academy in Florida when he signed with Illinois in 2022.
The 73 athletes in the lawsuit all signed in 2022 and are arguing they should be allowed a fifth year because the NCAA recently passed a new rule giving athletes after 2022 five seasons in five years.
If Luis and Clark are added to the written roster, LSU would have six players on board. The first four are transfer additions: No. 11 small forward Mouhamed Dioubate of Kentucky, who was No. 68 overall; No. 26 shooting guard Abdi Bashri of Kansas State, who was No. 132 overall; No. 48 point guard Divine Ugochukwu of Michigan State, who was No. 243 overall; and unranked guard Austin Nunez of Texas-San Antonio.
Wade is also expecting four international commitments to be signed and enrolled by Monday or shortly after: forward Saliou Niang of Italy, center Marcio Santos of Brazil, center Brice Dessert of France and forward Michael Ruzic of Croatia. That would bring the total to 10.
There is also a commitment from unranked prep forward Jordan Bender of Northside Christian School in St. Petersburg, Florida.
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