NCAA Basketball: Top 10 storylines of second week of 2022 offseason

9. Illinois guard Andre Curbelo transfers to St. John’s

Andre Curbelo had a quality freshman campaign for the Illini over a year ago, averaging over 9.0 ppg off the bench. After Ayo Dosunmu went pro, the 6’1 guard from New York was pegged to be a national breakout candidate, giving the keys to the offense.

Unfortunately, injuries suffered early on never allowed him to get into a rhythm, and both Alfonso Plummer and Trent Frazier became the lead guards. Curbelo returned to come off the bench and never saw his role materialize throughout this past season, averaging just 7.5 ppg and 3.2 apg on 37% shooting from the field and 18% from deep.

But the talent is still there for the point guard, evident by the big list of programs that expressed interest once he entered the transfer portal. In the end, getting a fresh start back at home proved to be what Curbelo wanted.

The Red Storm is coming off a disappointing season overall, going 17-15 and missing the NCAA Tournament despite having one of the best 1-2 duos in the country in Julian Champagnie and Posh Alexander. Leading scorer Champagnie is gone but the sophomore guard Alexander is back, coming off a season of averaging 13.8 ppg and 5.5 apg.

It’ll be interesting to see how the fit works, as Alexander shot just 21% from three-point range. But he can score off the ball and he and Curbelo would be great defensively, an area where St. John’s has struggled. If the team can add a couple of 40% three-point shooters later this offseason, it’ll be successful as they head into an important upcoming season with head coach Mike Anderson.