It is really sad to see Curbelo go. I too have been one of his biggest fans. He had a tremendous freshman season and I wish he wouldn't have had to deal with all the physical ailments he had to get through this year. I remember watching about a 20 minute video clip between his freshman and sophomore years which displayed some of his heroics. I have never seen a player make the kind of plays that he made. I truly believe that he will be a star at some point in his career and I do expect to see him in the league. Good Luck Andre!
Andre Curbelo in the transfer portal
- Status
Tacomallini
- Washington State
bummed about the news, like most of y'all. Miami transfer makes tons of sense but haven't heard anyone suggest Duke. Wasn't that Belo's dream college but they never offered?
Would be cool if it is an ACC team...would be very good for ratings, and this board, to see Illinois play Belo again in the ACC challenge
Would be cool if it is an ACC team...would be very good for ratings, and this board, to see Illinois play Belo again in the ACC challenge
sdfidaho
- Boise, Idaho
No matter the reasons. No matter if this is best for everyone. This still makes me sad!
Adios muchacha.
At his best, he was a lot of fun to watch. He was never very efficient, which is a damning comment about a point guard.
Exactly! Duh!
I agree, and this is also what terrifies me. This dude has 3 more years to get it together, and with our Illini luck I fully expect him to shred us at some point, hopefully not in March.
80'sIllini
- Arizona
Belo is probably the most unique and exciting player that will be part of the college basketball season next year. Sad to see him go. I think he's gonna have an All-American potential season. His on-the-ball defense was outstanding at times as well which was underappreciated- and rebounding. Despite all his mistakes with careless passes and dribbling turnovers, this hurts the team for sure. Hoping he's not in the big 10. BUT, isn't Epps a PG? And also this Sky kid if we land him? If so, we are OK at PG next year even if inexperienced. And if Podz stays, is the jury out that he wouldn't play some PG as well?
I wish the best for AC and hope he does well at his next stop. He was fun to watch and his highlights put the eyes of fans and recruits on our program in a good way. It saddens me that the staff couldn’t find a way to blend his individual style into Underwood’s more team style, but it isn’t a big surprise.
Ball dominance rarely ends in championships in basketball and AC was one of the most ball dominant guards in college hoops since Kyrie. The downside of all that dribbling is that teammates tend to stand around on offense and become disengaged on defense. I had hoped a healthy AC might have an upside of Kyrie or Chris Paul, but with his poor outside shooting....he might end up being closer to Rondo or Ricky Rubio if he makes it to the league.
Either way, I’m excited that Underwood will bring in someone that will fit the more traditional point guard role to get the ball to Kofi and kick it out to our three point shooters....we will be just fine next year.
Ball dominance rarely ends in championships in basketball and AC was one of the most ball dominant guards in college hoops since Kyrie. The downside of all that dribbling is that teammates tend to stand around on offense and become disengaged on defense. I had hoped a healthy AC might have an upside of Kyrie or Chris Paul, but with his poor outside shooting....he might end up being closer to Rondo or Ricky Rubio if he makes it to the league.
Either way, I’m excited that Underwood will bring in someone that will fit the more traditional point guard role to get the ball to Kofi and kick it out to our three point shooters....we will be just fine next year.
Ignatius Shang
5th year PhD, school of Information Sciences
- Champaign, IL
I am a big fan of Belo. He is a talented player and a good human being. I will always remember the moments when he made unbelievable passes on court, as well as the ones he support teammates and interact with the fans off court.
I think he will fully realize his potential and become an all-conference team level player. It is so sad that it will not be possible to see that here.
Bright side: with two of our current best players, Belo and likely Kofi leaving, we are closer to a new style of basketball which we have longer guards and faster bigmen, and everyone able to shoot 3. I am looking forward to that.
I think he will fully realize his potential and become an all-conference team level player. It is so sad that it will not be possible to see that here.
Bright side: with two of our current best players, Belo and likely Kofi leaving, we are closer to a new style of basketball which we have longer guards and faster bigmen, and everyone able to shoot 3. I am looking forward to that.
DaChief4ever
- Urbana
Hmmmm...flashes of goodness, flashes of recklessness....
hooraybeer
- Pittsburgh, PA
i’m depressed about this
I wish Belo all the best - if you bottle what he was against Purdue the first game and he's a first team AA - he's going to be very good for someone
He's a really fun player to watch and seems to enjoy the game and represents his team well
The only reason I'm not even more upset with him leaving is, that it was clear what we were seeing in stretches on the court was not consistent enough for Brad and the coaches to trust him fully to run the team - when a third team preseason AA still isn't starting even when fully healthy said something and it meant, to me, Belo just wasn't as good as we wanted him to be yet
I will root for him wherever he goes, but I think there are still great things ahead for the Illini and it's better to have this behind us rather than waiting for Belo to come back and be the player we want him to be - now we can move forward
He's a really fun player to watch and seems to enjoy the game and represents his team well
The only reason I'm not even more upset with him leaving is, that it was clear what we were seeing in stretches on the court was not consistent enough for Brad and the coaches to trust him fully to run the team - when a third team preseason AA still isn't starting even when fully healthy said something and it meant, to me, Belo just wasn't as good as we wanted him to be yet
I will root for him wherever he goes, but I think there are still great things ahead for the Illini and it's better to have this behind us rather than waiting for Belo to come back and be the player we want him to be - now we can move forward
I have to believe Belo still has lingering effects of his concussion. Good luck to him. I hope he moves out of the conference.
For sure there will be teams looking at his freshman year and drooling. His upside is huge.
That said, you never know how a player will come back from injury, and he really struggled. Statistically, he had a bad season. Some really cringy statistics, but i think it's worth mentioning them for perspective.
.176 on 3pt%
.329 FG%
60 Assists on 53 TOs. Think about that. He's known as a playmaker, not a scorer, so that just shows you how difficult the season was.
We know he struggled because of a serious medical issue, and that's understandable. He was down on virtually every metric, including his defensive rating, with one unfortunate exception: his usage was up. And I think that's probably the thing that is most difficult if you're Underwood. For sure he was trying to make plays and make things happen, but I would imagine from a coach's perspective, you need a guy to adapt to the situation. Not sure if that played a part in how he felt, but it's not hard to imagine it did.
Either way, good luck to him, especially his health and recovery.
I hate to see him go. He was instant excitement and I couldn't wait to see what he would do next. Incredible vision and court awareness made him special. He walked the tightrope and sometimes fell off but I thought the juice was well worth the squeeze. It was a terrible year for him with all that transpired especially with so much of it being out of his control.
I hope he gets fully recovered and gets his mojo back and excels wherever he lands. Thank you Andre, you will always be an Illini in my heart.
I hope he gets fully recovered and gets his mojo back and excels wherever he lands. Thank you Andre, you will always be an Illini in my heart.
Curbelo's style of play borders on the edge way too much. I had hopes he could have moderated his play to stay under control and be more of a facilitator at PG. He appears committed to this helter-skelter style and is willing to change teams to keep doing it. I wish him success at finding a team that will allow him to play as he desires. However; unless he can consistently hit a 3 plus limit his turnovers, he will be hard pressed to fulfill his promise. A high-spirited pony that refuses to be saddled never wins the race.
Was my favorite player this year. I wish him the best. A change could be good for him after such a rough and difficult season. There is also something to be said about being closer to home . Good luck.
I think I agree, but I'm not sure...
Since Belo announced today, I'm sure the staff new in advance. I had a bad feeling this tweet may have been reference to Belo at the time. Now that we know for sure, am I dumb to ponder this?
sacraig
- The desert
The dude was injured and sat a huge portion of this season, then got COVID... there is no world where this season's very limited minutes should be considered indicative of his actual value. Look at the end of last season. He had cleaned up a lot (not all) of his sloppiness. He was an assist machine with a lot of really wicked, tricky drives to the basket for easy scores. There is no world where this loss isn't a big deal.
- Status