Curbelo's Career & Season Game-By-Game Stats (PDF)

2021-22 Sophomore

• Averaged 7.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 19 games on the season
• Season-high 10 rebounds in Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal vs. Indiana (March 11)
• 14 points and six assists in win over No. 24 Iowa (March 6)
• 12 points on 5-7 FG in win at Michigan (Feb. 27)
• Five assists at Rutgers (Feb. 16)
• 15 points at No. 3 Purdue (Feb. 8)
• Seven points in win over No. 11 Wisconsin (Feb. 2), after missing previous two games
• Returned to action vs. Purdue (Jan. 17), scoring career-high 20 points with six rebounds
• Missed 11 straight games from Nov. 26-Jan. 14 with post-concussion related issues
• Season high-tying seven assists in win over Kansas State (Nov. 23)
• 12 points and game-high five assists vs. Cincinnati (Nov. 22)
• 11 points and eight rebounds at Marquette (Nov. 15)
• Season-high seven assists in season debut vs. Arkansas State (Nov. 12)

2021-22 Preseason

• Wooden Award Top-50 Watch List
• Naismith Trophy Watch List
• Lute Olson Award Watch List
• Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Watch List
• All-Big Ten Team, conference media
• First-Team All-American, Field of 68
• Third-Team All-American, College Hoops Today
• Fourth-Team All-American, Dick Vitale
• No. 3, The Athletic's Top 20 Guards
• No. 24, CBS Sports' Top 101 Players

2020-21 Freshman

• Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year and Big Ten All-Freshman Team
• Illinois Freshman of the Year
• Fourth on team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 9.1 ppg and 4.0 rpg
• Averaged 12.7 points and 5.6 rebounds over the final 10 games
• Third in Big Ten in assists during league play (4.6 apg); sixth in all games (4.2 apg)
• Totaled 12 assists during the NCAA Tournament; five vs. Drexel (March 19) and seven vs. No. 17 Loyola Chicago (March 21)
• Team-high 16 points with six rebounds and five assists in Big Ten Tournament title game win over No. 9 Ohio State (March 14) 
• 12 points on 6-8 FG with seven rebounds and three steals in BTT win over No. 5 Iowa (March 13)
• Season-high 19 points on 6-8 FG and 6-7 FT with game-high six assists and five boards in win at No. 7 Ohio State (March 6)
• 17 points and six rebounds in win at No. 2 Michigan (March 2)
• Big Ten Freshman of the Week (March 1)
• 17 points and seven boards in win at No. 23 Wisconsin (Feb. 27)
• Nearly a triple-double with 10 points, career-high 12 rebounds, and eight assists in Nebraska win (Feb. 25)
• 12 points on 5-7 FG at Michigan State (Feb. 23)
• 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals at Indiana (Feb. 2), including assist leading to a Kofi Cockburn dunk with 19 seconds left in overtime that sealed the victory
• Eight points, game-high eight assists and four boards in win over No. 7 Iowa (Jan. 29)
• Game-high seven assists in win at Northwestern (Jan. 7)
• Eight points and game-high six assists in win over Purdue (Jan. 2)
• 12 points and game-high eight assists in win at Penn State (Dec. 23)
• Career-high nine assists with nine points and six rebounds in win over Minnesota (Dec. 15)
• 14 points and season-high three steals at Missouri (Dec. 12)

High School

• Four-star recruit ranked No. 45 by the recruiting services consensus index, checking in at No. 38 by Rivals and No. 44 by both ESPN and 247Sports
• No. 8-ranked point guard by 247Sports, No. 9 by Rivals and No. 10 by ESPN
• Third-team All-American by MaxPreps
• Top-ranked player in state of New York by 247Sports
• Two-time Newsday All-Long Island Player of the Year
• Two-time Player of the Year by LongIslandBasketball.com
• Averaged 16.7 points, 8.1 assists, 7.6 rebounds and 3.6 steals as a senior
• Led Long Island Lutheran (LuHi) to a 22-3 record prior to the cancellation of the Federation Tournament due to COVID-19
• LuHi was ranked No. 1 in the final state rankings by the New York Sportswriters Association and No. 8 nationally by ESPN and No. 10 by MaxPreps
• In the final game of his high school career, scored on a putback at the buzzer to give LuHi a 102-101 overtime victory over Albany Academy (2/22/20)
• Had 23 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals to lead LuHi to a 86-74 victory over Sierra Canyon at the Metro Classic (2/8/20)
• Named Most Outstanding Player of both the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and the Iolani Prep Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii
• Averaged 15.5 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and four steals as a junior
• Helped lead Long Island Lutheran to a 25-2 record and 2019 New York State Federation Tournament of Champions Class AA title, LuHi’s first-ever Federation championship in AA
• Named NYS Federation Tournament MVP with 23 points, 10 rebound and five steals in title-game victory over Christ the King (3/23/19)
• Member of Puerto Rico’s National Team that competed in the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup, averaging 11.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists
• Also played in the 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup, earning a spot on the All-Star Five after averaging 13.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.9 steals while helping lead Puerto Rico to a bronze medal
• High school coach was John Buck
• Played for the New York Jayhawks AAU program, coached by Jay David

Personal

• Born Oct. 13, 2001
• Majoring in recreation, sport and tourism
• Parents are Joann Rodriguez and Joel Curbelo
• Father, Joel, played basketball at American University and professionally for 18 years, representing Puerto Rico at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta
• Has one older brother, Joel
• Participated in many sports growing up including soccer, volleyball, track, cross country and table tennis
• Proudest sports achievement was winning a bronze medal with Puerto Rico at the FIBA U17 World Cup and earning a spot on the All-Tournament team
• Hobbies include playing video games like FIFA and Call of Duty Warzone and hanging out with friends
• Favorite athletes are Kobe Bryant, Usain Bolt and Lionel Messi
• Favorite meal is pork chops with white rice, beans and fried plantains
• Credits his family for most influencing his basketball career, “My mom has always put me first, sacrificing so much of her time traveling everywhere to take me to my games; my brother has motivated and supported me even though he didn’t get the same basketball opportunities that I’ve had; and my dad for giving me good advice and passing on his knowledge of the game.”
• Chose Illinois because, “It felt like family here. I have a close connection with the players and everybody in the program from the coaches to the managers. The support of the fans and students; you can feel how important basketball is here. And obviously academically, this is one of the greatest schools you could ever dream of going to.”