St. John’s men’s basketball star RJ Luis Jr. named Second Team AP All-American

Luis becomes the first Red Storm All-American since Ron Artest in 1999

After leading the best St. John’s team this century in scoring and posting a team-best 29 points to lead the Johnnies to their first Big East tournament title in a quarter-century, the Associated Press named RJ Luis Jr. as a Second-Team All-American on Tuesday.

Luis becomes the first Red Storm player to earn AP All-America recognition since Ron Artest was a third-team selection in 1999 and becomes the first Johnny to make one of the two top All-American teams since Mark Jackson in 1987.

Despite not making one of the preseason All-Big East teams, the Miami native is collecting a trophy case worth of accolades and honors after a breakout junior year. Along with becoming an AP All-American, Luis has won Big East Player of the Year, the Big East Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player of the Year, and was named one of the ten semifinalists for the Naismith Trophy Men’s Player of the Year and one of the five finalists for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year award.

Through 33 games played this season, Luis is averaging 18.4 points (fourth-most in the Big East), 7.2 rebounds (fifth-most in the Big East), 2.1 assists, and 1.4 steals, shooting 44.4% from the floor, 32.5% from three, and 75% from the free throw line.

Luis and the 2-seeded Red Storm are gearing up to face 15-seed Summit League champions Omaha in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (9:45 p.m., CBS). With a victory, St. John’s would win their first NCAA tournament game since 2000 and face either 7-seed Kansas or 10-seed Arkansas in the second round on Saturday.