Andre Curbelo transferring to St. John’s a ‘blessing’ for Posh Alexander
Posh Alexander was admittedly surprised and somewhat caught off guard by the recruitment of point guard Andre Curbelo by St. John’s.
Isn’t Alexander the St. John’s point guard? Does the coaching staff want to go in a different direction? For the first time in his college career, Alexander was uncertain of his status within his hometown program.
Then, assistant coach Van Macon broke it down for him.
“This,” he told Alexander, “will only help you.”
St. John’s wasn’t looking to replace Alexander with Curbelo, a well-regarded transfer from Illinois. The Red Storm wanted to complement and lessen the load on Alexander. They needed to add an impact player after losing leading scorer Julian Champagnie to the NBA, no matter the position.
“I realized adding him was a great part to the team. … It’s an honor to [play with] another point guard who can make plays for others and score for himself. I truly appreciate him coming from Illinois and bringing his talents to St. John’s,” Alexander said on Wednesday, in his first public comments since Curbelo came aboard. “Both of us on the court will be great. Having him is just a blessing. It’s just good to have him as a teammate.”
Both players are in a similar spot, coming off seasons that didn’t go as well as they had hoped. After being named the Big Ten’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2021 as a freshman, a concussion curtailed the 6-foot-1 Curbelo’s development and his numbers dipped across the board last season. The 6-foot Alexander, Big East Freshman of the Year in 2021, averaged 13.8 points, 5.5 assists and 4.4 rebounds as a sophomore, but St. John’s failed to live up to expectations and he didn’t impact games as much as during his first season in Queens.
The two have extra time to get familiar with one another this summer. St. John’s had its fourth of 10 allowed practices on Wednesday, before traveling to the Dominican Republic for four exhibition games. It will be an adjustment for both players, spending more time off the ball than they are accustomed to, which is why these extra practices and games should be beneficial.
“Good players like to play with good players, and so those guys are aware of who each other are,” coach Mike Anderson said. “They bring different things to the table, and of course defensively is something we want to be good at. You put those guys out there on the floor, that can be a potent backcourt. My best teams we had two point guards and we had a forward who could play the point, too.”
The two point guards know each other, though they have never been teammates before. Curbelo, a Puerto Rican native, played high school basketball at Long Island Lutheran. Alexander spent his prep years at Our Savior Lutheran in The Bronx. St. John’s believes the duo, together, can lead the program to its first NCAA Tournament of the Anderson era.
“Two guys with eyes behind their heads,” center Joel Soriano said with a smile. “They’re very unselfish. They look for others before they even look for their own shot.”
Alexander’s strong freshman season came with him playing next to point guard Rasheem Dunn. There wasn’t another true point guard on the roster last year, and Alexander didn’t shoot nearly as well from 3-point range, going from a 29.9 percent as a freshman to 21.7. That team finished fourth in the Big East, and might have reached the tournament if not for a few late-season hiccups.
“I’m a player who can play on the ball and off the ball, and I’m good when I’m a set-shooter,” Alexander said. “I can catch the ball and shoot, I shoot the ball a lot better like that. Having a player like him to help out, that’s good.”
