Andre Curbelo

Andre Jael Curbelo Rodriguez was born on October 13, 2001, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and grew up in Vega Baja. He began playing basketball at the age of four. At 13, he moved to New York and attended Long Island Lutheran Middle and High School in Brookville. Despite initial language barriers, he excelled academically and athletically. In his junior year, Curbelo averaged 15.5 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, and 4 steals per game, leading Long Island Lutheran to their first-ever Class AA Federation championship in 2019. He was also named Newsday All-Long Island Player of the Year. In April 2019, Curbelo participated in the Nike Hoop Summit for the World Select Team.

Curbelo committed to the University of Illinois in November 2019, where he played for the Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team for two seasons. During his freshman year (2020-21), he averaged 9.1 points, 4.2 assists, and 4 rebounds per game, earning recognition on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team and receiving the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year Award. He then transferred to St. John’s for the 2022-23 season and later to Southern Miss for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. In the 2023-24 season with Southern Miss, he averaged 13.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in 12 games before being dismissed from the team in February 2025. His professional career began in 2025 with Atléticos de San Germán and he currently plays for Ironi Ness Ziona in the Israeli Ligat HaAl.

Beyond his collegiate and professional club career, Curbelo has a distinguished international career representing Puerto Rico. He won a gold medal at the Centrobasket Under-15 Championship in 2016. He also secured bronze medals at the 2017 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship and the 2018 FIBA Under-17 World Cup. His father, Joel Curbelo, was a professional basketball player and represented Puerto Rico in the 1996 Summer Olympics, while his mother played for the Puerto Rico women’s national handball team.