CHAMPAIGN, Illinois – Illini sophomore Andre Curbelo entered the transfer portal on Monday, as first reported by Verbal Commits and confirmed by 247Sports’ Travis Branham.
Curbelo confirmed the news on his social media pages.
Curbelo sat the entire second half of Illinois’ loss to Houston in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday. Illini Head Coach Brad Underwood called it a “coach decision” but didn’t go into detail.
“Illini Nation… where do I start? The last two years have been crazy,” Curbelo wrote on his social media page. “So many amazing moments and some tough times to fight our way through. I am so grateful that I could be part of this program. Without my teammates and collaborators, I could not have achieved all of these things Me personally and WE together. I’m grateful to be part of two great teams here at the University of Illinois and for the relationships I’ve forged. I’m thankful for all the support from The Orange Krush, you all have been my energy and the reason I never stopped pushing. Unfortunately, my time here at UIUC has come to an end and I have decided to enter the transfer portal. Belo OUT.”
It’s been a tumultuous second season for Curbelo, who was selected as a preseason All-American by various outlets earlier in the year. However, he suffered a concussion during Illinois’ exhibition game against St. Francis in late October, and lingering effects caused him to miss nearly two months of the season.
Curbelo returned against Purdue on Jan. 17 and excelled with a season-high 20 points in a double loss in overtime. A week later, Curbelo was back out after testing positive for COVID-19.
The 6-foot-1-point guard was able to play the last 13 games of the season, but he never found consistency with his game. Curbelo finished the year averaging 7.5 points, 3.2 assists and 2.8 turnovers per game while shooting less than 33 percent from the field. In the postseason, he went off the field in 2:18 combined with nine assists and nine turnovers in games against Indiana, Chattanooga and Houston.
Following Sunday’s loss to Houston, Curbelo posted a tweet that seemed to indicate he would be back with the Illini.
“What a year with lots of ups and downs but we still have 10 toes down to think about it!!! Coming back stronger than ever…didn’t go the way we wanted, but we fought our way through a lot of adversity. Love my brothers for life” Curbelo wrote.
Now, Curbelo is part of a big turnover in the Illinois backcourt Trent Frazier, Alfonso Plummer and There’Monte Williams also goes on.
What it means: The Illini will have a new guard group next season. Underwood will win the top 100 signers Jayden Epps and Sencire Harris. Illinois is also pushing hard for the repeal of the five-star Kentucky Heaven Clark, who is the No. 5 point guard in the Class of 2022, according to 247Composite. That would be a very talented backcourt trio, but a very young one. With Curbelo gone, the Illini will certainly be looking for an experienced starting caliber transfer point guard. They are also interested in adding a large two-way guard through the portal. Ilini Guard Brandin Podziemski will have a chance to earn a role too.