By ADAM ZAGORIA
GLEN HEAD, N.Y. — Andre Curbelo is getting used to the high-major coaches flock to see him play.
The 6-foot-1 point guard from Long Island Lutheran recently added offers from Indiana, Texas A&M, Kansas and Oregon to go with the many he had before, including Illinois, Florida, Miami, UConn, Georgetown, Providence, Louisville, Boston College, Pitt, Maryland and Texas Tech.
During an open gym on Tuesday at Long Island Lutheran, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood and two assistants were on hand. St. John’s head coach Mike Anderson and assistant Van Macon were in the building. Miami head coach Jim Larranaga met with Curbelo in the morning, and assistant Chris Caputo was at the open gym.
“It’s always great to have them in the gym,” he said after an open gym on Tuesday. “It shouldn’t be a thing where it gets coaches to play hard, but when coaches are in the gym, you feel a little bit more pumped, you get more motivated. Even though I have some offers already, that’s a sign that I’m really something good, so whatever I’m doing I’m pumped to keep doing it good .”
moment, and isn’t sure when he’ll set them up or when he’ll decide.
“I can’t tell you that right now,” he said. “If I did, I’d be lying.”
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Miami is coming hard for the play-making guard from Puerto Rico, and Larranaga met with him in the morning. “Yes, I met with him and we talked a little bit,” Curbelo said. “We’re just catching up. He likes me a lot. He thinks that could be a good fit because of the Puerto Rican population [in Miami], the Latin population, and the way they play he thinks is going to fit. Warm weather, they got basically everything, so he thinks that could be a good fit for me.” He added: “I like that, everything sounds good. Miami is a good program, it sounds good. Whatever he’s saying sounds good. I’m still figuring things out, I haven’t made any decisions yet. But yeah, it sounds amazing, who wouldn’t like that? It sounds like a good plan. Me and coach Jay David, we’re still figuring things out.” Miami already has Isaiah Wong in the backcourt, but “[Larranaga] is just telling me what I could bring to the table. Obviously, I gotta earn my position. Wherever I’m going, I’m ready to go. I definitely gotta fight for the position.” Curbelo also met Tuesday with Illinois assistant Orlando Antigua. Illinois went three deep at the open gym for Curbelo and teammate Zed Key, who has visits planned to Marquette and Florida after tripping to Ohio State. “I’ve been talking to them,” Curbelo said. “Antigua, besides him being a great coach and a recruiter, I see him as a good friend. He’s friends with my dad. He speaks Spanish, so it’s always good to have a guy who if you’re somewhere you don’t like, you can always ask him, ‘Hey, give me some tips.’ Even though you didn’t go to his college, I’m pretty sure that he’ll always be there for myself. “I’ll definitely be talking about them with Coach Jay, I know how much they like me.” St. John’s also had two coaches at the open gym, and Curbelo has visited the Queens school unofficially. “Yeah, I’ve been talking to them, too,” he said. “I’m going to talk with Jay about everything single college because St. John’s is in New York, I’ve been playing here, so it could be a good thing.”St. John’s coach Mike Anderson and Illinois coach Brad Underwood among those here at @LuHiBasketball for @papicurbelo11 and @ZedBasketball14
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) September 10, 2019
Marquette coach Steve Wojo and his whole staff are here
Illinois is 3 deep, St. John’s 2 deep. Miami, Rutgers, Bucknell also here. pic.twitter.com/rnoYT1Jjth
Kansas and Indiana also recently offered Curbelo. “Those are great programs, I talked to them,” he said. “But like I said, it’s just the same thing with every college. We’re going to go over the pros and cons. I gotta go somewhere where they can get me to the next level.” He said he was “pretty impressed with Kansas. Kansas is a top program. I’m a pass-first point guard and I feel like those big programs look like point guards who are scorers. Not that I can’t score, but I like to create for others first. I was pretty excited about that. Really happy I got the offer.” LuHi head coach John Buck said wherever Curbelo lands, he figures to make an impact. “He averaged about 25 a game as a junior last year in the state tournament to take [the New York State Federation title] home,” Buck said. “He’s not only pass-first, but he is a get his teammates involved classic point guard who can control the game. I give him the ball and he gives it back to me after minutes with a win.” Curbelo has no visits planned at the4-star junior Andre Curbelo (24 points) with the game-winning steal and layup as Long Island Lutheran defeats Paul Mulcahy & Gill St. Bernards 53-51 here at the Metro Classic. pic.twitter.com/NzVMvYWk7S
— Mike McCurry (@Mike_McCurry16) February 10, 2019
