Ad Disclosure
André Curbelo’s passing leaves big impression on Illinois teammates: ‘He has eyes in his elbows’
Published:
Illinois freshman guard André Curbelo has made an immediate impact as the Illini’s backup point guard.
He recorded six more assists on Saturday for the No. 15 team in the country, as Illinois defeated Purdue for their third straight win.
But Curbelo’s assists weren’t always the standard run-of-the-mill passes that you mostly see in college basketball games. He has a certain flare to his game, and has a level of vision that’s uncommon for freshmen guards.
Illinois guard Da’Monte Williams acknowledged that after the Purdue game, and gave a pretty funny quote about how Curbelo is able to make the passes that he does.
“He has eyes in his knee caps, in his elbows,” Williams told reporters after the game.
#illini Da'Monte Williams: Curbelo "has eyes in his knee caps, in his elbows." Sees everything out there. pic.twitter.com/1ZNxZq3xUy
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) January 3, 2021
Here’s a sampling of a few of Curbelo’s awesome passes from the first half of the Purdue game.
Halftime: No. 15 Illinois 33, Purdue 23.
Freshman Andre Curbelo was dishing some dimes in the first 20.
@papicurbelo11 // @IlliniMBB pic.twitter.com/z2vrjYNWzP
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) January 2, 2021
Curbelo has been so good that some fans have asked for him to join the starting lineup. However, that won’t be happening any time soon according to coach Brad Underwood.
Underwood says Curbelo actually prefers to come off the bench as of now.
. @DPiper247 follows up and Underwood said he doesn't think at all of putting Curbelo in the starting lineup, said Curbelo prefers coming off the bench. https://t.co/pdF0FK6vi1
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) January 3, 2021
Illinois will play again on Jan. 7 against Northwestern.
Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.