LuHi alum Andre Curbelo transfers to St. John's

Andre Curbelo is coming back to New York. The two-time Newsday high school basketball player of the year is transferring to St. John’s from Illinois, he announced on Twitter Friday.

“Back to where everything started #imcominghome,” he tweeted.

The move comes two weeks after the former Long Island Lutheran High star announced he was entering the transfer portal, tweeting "Unfortunately, my time here at [Illinois] has come to an end."

Curbelo played two seasons at Illinois. He averaged 9.1 points, 4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists in 31 games as a freshman and was named Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year. He averaged 7.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 19 games last season. His minutes decreased as a sophomore, dropping to 19.3 per game from 21.5. He missed 14 of Illinois’ first 18 games this season because of issues related to a concussion he suffered in preseason.

Over the last 13 games of his sophomore season at Illinois, the Puerto Rico native averaged 6.2 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.6 turnovers. He scored five points in 30 minutes in a win over Chattanooga in the first round of last month’s NCAA tournament. He was held scoreless in 10 minutes of a second-round loss to Houston.

As a senior at Long Island Lutheran in 2019-2020, Curbelo averaged 15.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 6.2 assists. As a junior, he averaged 16.1 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals per game, all while shooting 43% from behind the arc.

St. John’s finished 17-15 last season, good for seventh in the Big East. They lost, 66-65, to Villanova in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. Curbelo will team with Posh Alexander, who averaged 13.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 5.5 assists as a sophomore.