Illinois Basketball: Illini putting the full-court press on Andre Curbelo

It looks like the Illinois basketball team is laser-focused on one of the top point guards in the country.

On Monday, Andrew Slater of The Athletic broke the news that Illinois will be in to see Andre Curbelo on Tuesday. This is big news and reinforces the fact Brad Underwood and the Illini coaching staff really wants this kid.

Curbelo is a 6-foot, 155-pound point guard from Long Island Lutheran High School in New York. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 55 player in the class of 2020 and the No. 9 point guard in the nation. He is also the No. 1 player to come out of his hometown of Puerto Rico.

I find this visit by the Illinois coaching staff as intriguing. They are putting a lot of recruiting resources into Curbelo, which means they really want him. Not only are they visiting him on Tuesday, but he is coming for an official visit on October 18, just 10 days from today.

As of right now, three teams have official visits. Miami (FL) was the first to go with a visit on October 4. Illinois is to follow with the visit on October 18. And Oregon has the third visit on October 25. My guess is the Illini staff doesn’t want him to get out of Champaign without a commitment. That is why they are putting on the full-court press.

Getting a point guard like Curbelo should a top priority for the Illini. We need someone to run the point next season with Ayo Dosunmu and Andres Feliz both departing, and Curbelo would be a perfect fit. He averaged 16.7 points, 5.7 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game this past AAU season with the NY Jayhawks. If we could get anywhere near those numbers out of him, Illinois would contend for Big Ten titles.

I love this move by the Illinois coaching staff. It shows fire and urgency to fill that No. 1 guard spot. This is a great decision and one that will, hopefully, pay off.