St. John’s RJ Luis Jr. Putting On For All Of New York And Latinos Across The Globe

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Basketball St. John’s RJ Luis Jr. Putting On For All Of New York And Latinos Across The Globe by Robert Rizzo February 26, 2025 With St. John’s back on the map, Dominican-Ecuadorian RJ Luis Jr. deserves national and global spotlight – Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball NEW YORK, NY — There are certain athletes who are much deserving of national and global spotlight, but in the end, don’t receive it. RJ Luis Jr. of the No. 7 ranked St. John’s Red Storm, a proud Dominican-Ecuadorian, hailing from Miami, Florida, stands out as one of those individuals. “I’ve said this all along, RJ is one of the most gifted players I’ve coached,” recently noted St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer. St. John’s Dominican-Ecuadorian RJ Luis Jr. banks a mid-range shot against Georgetown’s premiere big man Thomas Sorber – Image Credit: Tomasso DeRosa/Latino Sports The dynamic and highly motored junior combo-guard, listed at six-seven and 215 lbs, has showcased himself on the hardwood this season while leading the Red Storm to a historic 2024-2025 campaign — one in which has the program currently sitting high at 24-4 overall, and 15-2 in Big East Conference play — first place in the league with three games to go. Across 27 contests on the year, Luis Jr., of Dominican descent from his father, Reggie Luis Charles and Ecuadorian descent from his mother, Maria Luis — whom both were given athletic scholarships to move to the United States — is averaging 17.4 points per game (4th in Big East), 7.1 rebounds per game (Tied-4th in Big East), 1.7 steals per game (12th in Big East) and 2.3 assists per game. A menace on both ends of the floor some would say, consistently diving for loose balls, and fighting for rebounds — all in an effort to lead his team to victory. So many wins now, ‘Star-J’ Luis Jr. and St. John’s caused a ‘storm to form’ across New York City — one of the most populated Latin communities in the United States. “It’s great with my mom being from Ecuador and my pops being from the Dominican,” said Luis Jr. on what it means to be representing his Dominican-Ecuadorian roots in The Big Apple. “Being in New York — it’s the Mecca of Basketball — there’s a great Dominican and Ecuadorian community. I’m just trying to put on for the Latin community the best that I can… To all my Latin American people over there, ‘Estamos metiéndo mano,’” which translates from Dominican slang to English, “We’re putting in that work/We’re killing it.” Despite Luis Jr. being named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List , as well as to the Jersey Mike’s Naismith National Player of the Year Trophy Midseason Team , among several other midseason and weekly honors, he has still not been highlighted and promoted to the degree in which he should be, especially when it comes to his Dominican-Ecuadorian roots. He mentioned how he and his dad were looking into getting something out to the public on him being “one of the first Ecuadorians of national descent to be playing at such a high Division I level.” Speaking more of his father, Luis Jr. revealed that Reggie played overseas in the Dominican Republic, faced Felipe López, and actually, knows the St. John’s icon quite well, along with the father of New York Knicks’ Dominican-American superstar Karl-Anthony Towns, Karl Towns Sr. In 2019-2020, RJ Luis Jr. played for the Dominican Republic U17 National Team – Image Credit: @reggieluisch and @adelsrch on Instagram Additionally, on his Dominican side, he emphasized the progress that the country has made when it comes to growing the game of Basketball, plus a key connection he holds with the current Dominican Republic National Team. “We’ve been doing a really good job,” Luis Jr. said. “Joel Soriano is actually playing with the COPA America (Dominican Republic National) team right now, so, shout out to him.” Soriano, of Yonkers, New York, a current member of the Charlotte Hornets’ G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, who Latino Sports recently interviewed , was a teammate of Luis Jr.’s last season at St. John’s. MORE THAN JUST A GAME: Dominican-American Joel Soriano high fives Dominican-Ecuadorian RJ Luis Jr. during 2023-2024 regular season contest at Carnesecca Arena – Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball “He’s playing great,” Soriano stated of Luis Jr.’s 2024-2025 progress. “Everything carries winning. So when you win, everything else will follow. He’s doing a great job leading that team — not just playing for himself — but for his teammates, defensively and offensively. He’s a great two-way player.” Sneaker Game On Point RJ Luis Jr. Rocks Customized Sabrina Ionescu Nike Kicks To Represent His Dominican-Ecuadorian Roots In Sunday’s win at MSG, @StJohnsBBall RJ Luis Jr. was rockin’ customized Sabrina Ionescu Nike sneakers with the Ecuador flag on one shoe and the DR flag on the other 🇪🇨🏀🇩🇴 “Just trying to represent those two countries for my parents,” he said. 🎥: @Sook_Sports | @PIX11 pic.twitter.com/pS6Mjyc8FS — Latino Sports (@LatinoSports) February 25, 2025 In the Red Storm’s most recent win over UConn at Madison Square Garden this past Sunday afternoon, a 89-75 blowout , Luis Jr. came ‘dressed to impress’ — rocking customized Sabrina Ionescu Nike sneakers with one shoe illustrating the flag and colors of Ecuador and the other depicting the Dominican Republic flag/colors. “Just trying to represent those two countries for my parents,” Luis Jr. said of his special pair of sneakers, later stating that he opted to wear them for Sunday’s game due to his mother and father both traveling from home to be in attendance to see their son play in front of all of New York City on The Garden floor. RJ Luis Jr. gave massive praise to his fans and followers from the Dominican Republic and Ecuador, stating, “It’s just great to have that extra support and that extra boost. It’s a blessing.” – Image Credit: Perry Sook of PIX11 (Follow Perry @sook_sports on Instagram and Twitter) “I wore those too because my mom came and that was the first game my mom was at. I wanted to put those on so she could see the Ecuadorian flag on my feet.” “And my dad, he was there. He doesn’t miss too many games, but I mean, yeah, just representing and trying to keep them close to my heart.” Follow us on Social Media for updates and exclusive content Instagram: @latinosportsoficial Facebook: Latino Sports Twitter: @latinosports Related Topics Big East Big East Conference College Basketball College Hoops Dominican Republic Ecuador featured Felipe López Joel Soriano Karl Anthony-Towns Karl Towns Sr. KAT Knicks Latinos in College Basketball Madison Square Garden Maria Luis Men’s College Basketball MSG NCAA NCAA Basketball New York City New York Knicks Nike Red Storm Reggie Charles Luis Rick Pitino RJ Luis Jr. Sabrina Ionescu St. Johns St. Johns Red Storm St. Johns University 2 Comments 2 Comments Julio February 26, 2025 at 2:25 pm Latino Sports in the forefront informing the public of unknown Latino rising stars. Reply Dee February 26, 2025 at 3:09 pm He’s a big part of the reason St John’s is having a great season this year. 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