University of Miami basketball team loses one recruit, gains ground with another
The University of Miami lost out on point guard recruit Andre Curbelo, but is the favorite to land five-star forward Earl Timberlake.
Curbelo, a four-star prospect out of Long Island (N.Y.) Lutheran High, announced Friday morning that he selected the University of Illinois over Miami. Those were his two finalists.
Curbelo is rated the No. 55 player in the Class of 2020 and the ninth-best point guard in the nation.
He is a native of Puerto Rico, and was drawn to UM partly because of Miami’s large Hispanic population and the success of former Puerto Rican Hurricane stars Guillermo Diaz and Angel Rodriguez. But he may get more playing time as a freshman at Illinois because UM is expected to have more depth at that position next year than the Illini.
Miami head coach Jim Larranaga and top assistant Chris Caputo visited Curbelo in New York a few weeks ago and traveled to Puerto Rico to meet with Curbelo’s family.
The Hurricanes are among the finalists for Timberlake, a 6-6 and 215-pound forward at powerhouse DeMatha (Md.) Catholic. His list includes Miami, Pittsburgh, Providence, Seton Hall, South Carolina and Alabama. His birthday is Nov. 4, and he reportedly will announce his decision that day.
Miami recently got its first verbal commitment from the Class of 2020.
Matt Cross, a four-star forward from Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, chose UM over Indiana, Florida, Texas A&M, South Carolina and Butler.
Cross, who is 6-7 and 225 pounds, is a hybrid forward who was one of the hottest players on the recruiting trail this summer. He averaged 23.3 points and 9.5 rebounds in 18 games with Boston-based club BABC in Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL). He plays for the same club team as former Hurricane Bruce Brown, now with the Detroit Pistons, and the same high school as UM freshman Anthony Walker.