St. John’s basketball: Andre Curbelo enters transfer portal

St. John’s basketball guard Andre Curbelo is entering the transfer portal. 

The St. John’s basketball backcourt is officially barren as Andre Curbelo is entering the transfer portal.

Curbelo spent just one season with the Red Storm after transferring from Illinois last offseason but the year was chaotic for the Puerto Rico native.

“I want to say thank you to the staff at St. John’s for giving me the opportunity to be a student-athlete and play in my second home, New York City,” Curbelo said in a social media statement.

The Long Island Lutheran (NY) standout was suspended twice by head coach Mike Anderson, both for not adhering to team rules.

Andre Curbelo was suspended for St. John’s matchup against Marquette on January 3 and was seen inside Carnesecca Arena wearing a disguise and then appeared in the post game press conference to share a quick word with Golden Eagles head coach Shaka Smart.

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Curbelo was also suspended for three games in mid-February, which Anderson called a “coach’s decision.”

“I would like to take accountability for my shortcomings as I continue this journey to getting back to myself with the support of my family and a commitment to hard work,” Curbelo continued.

The 6-foot-1 guard returned on February 22 against Georgetown but only played two games as he suffered a concussion in practice during the first week of March, which caused him to miss the final game of the regular season as well as the two games St. John’s played in the Big East Tournament.

“I would like to thank Athletic Director Mike Cragg for his patience and for always keeping it real with me.”

Curbelo also entered the media room prior to a game against Creighton during his three game suspension and expressed confusion as to why he wasn’t playing.

Andre Curbelo averaged a career-high 9.6 points and 4.3 assists per game with the Johnnies this season while posting 2.8 rebounds per contest on 42.4-percent shooting from the field and 29.4-percent shooting from 3-point range, also a career best.

“Thank you to the St. John’s fan base for all the love during my time here — I believe the program is in great hands with Coach [Rick] Pitino,” Curbelo concluded.

St. John’s basketball roster nearly empty

St. John’s has now seen seven players enter the transfer portal; Rafael Pinzon, O’Mar Stanley, Kolby King, AJ Storr, Dylan Addae-Wusu, and Posh Alexander.

However, Alexander left the door open for a potential return to the Red Storm in his statement.

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Harrison Reede and Yaxel Lendeborg also reopened their commitments shortly after the coaching change.

Joel Soriano and Drissa Traore are the only players from last year’s roster that will return to St. John’s under head coach Rick Pitino while David Jones, a DePaul transfer, and freshman Mohamed Keita have not formally announced their future plans.

The Red Storm remain in heavy contact with a multitude of players in the transfer portal but have not landed a commitment yet.