Top 10 Illinois basketball recruiting busts of all time

Special talent has walked the State Farm Center floor, but the Illinois basketball team has also had some pretty big recruiting busts of the years.

Mar 17, 2022; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Andre Curbelo (5) and Fighting Illini guard Alfonso Plummer (11) stand on the court during practice before the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

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No. 6 Andre Curbelo

Brad Underwood was a big hitter in his first few recruiting classes. I was impressed with a lot of the talent he was bringing in, and I raved about the potential of Andre Curbelo.

Coming out of Long Island Lutheran High School in New York, Curbelo was a 6-foot, 170-pound point guard. He was rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 47 player in the class of 2020. He was also the No. 8 point guard in the country and the best player coming out of Puerto Rico.

Illinois finally had a great point guard. A top 50 recruit is exciting to be handling the rock. Curbelo didn’t look bad either. In his first two seasons, he averaged 8.5 points, 3.8 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game. The future seemed bright.

After his second season with the Illini, Curbelo decided his time in Champaign was done. He departed into the transfer portal and ended up with St. John’s. He averaged about the same numbers, putting up 9.6 points, 4.3 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game.

Curbelo entered the transfer portal again in 2023. He then picked Southern Miss as his landing spot. This past season, he averaged 13.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. He also had a career-high 3.9 turnovers per contest.

I was really hoping Illinois had a bright future with a wizard at point guard. Curbelo had moments where he was special, but he just never panned out. That is tough for a top-50 recruit.

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