the puerto rican Andre Curbelo committed to the University of St. John’s as a transfer of Illinoisannounced on Friday.
Curbelo left the Fighting Illini in late March after a frustrating second season in Champaign.
Curbelo played high school at Long Island Lutheran, New York, just 20 miles from the Red Storm campus. He had high expectations heading into his second season at Illinois after averaging 9.1 points and 4.2 assists as a freshman, including 19 points and six assists against Ohio State in the final game of the regular season and 16 points and five assists against the Buckeyes in the Big Ten championship game.
Curbelo was named to the first-team All-Big Ten in preseason and was expected to be one of the best point guards in the country.
But he suffered a concussion in an exhibition game in October and missed 14 of the team’s first 18 games due to concussion-related issues. Once Curbelo returned to full force, he only showed glimpses of what made him so effective at the high school level and as a freshman. Over the final 13 games of the season, he averaged just 6.2 points, 2.6 assists and 2.6 turnovers, playing just 10 minutes in Illinois’ second-round NCAA tournament loss to houston.
Curbelo, a top 50 recruit in the class of 2020, should be a good fit at St. John’s. Under Mike Anderson, the Red Storm have been one of the most dynamic teams in the country, ranking No. 1 nationally in pace last season after ranking in the top 25 in each of Anderson’s first two seasons in Queens. . Curbelo is likely to start alongside posh alexanderone of the elite defensive guards/guards in college basketball.
St. John’s went 17-15 overall last season, including 8-11 in the Big East.
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Curbelo transfers to St. John’s after leaving Illinois