The recruiting bio for 6-9 center Cornelio Guibunda remarked that he was ranked "the No. 16 high school center in the country by College Basketball Magazine", averaging 27 points, 15 rebounds, and nine blocks in a Connecticut prep school league. A 2003 article quoted Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun as asking "What do I have to do to have him sign right now?"

Guibunda passed on UConn, where his list of offers included Boston College, Vanderbilt, Villanova, Providence, Rutgers, Kentucky, Virginia, Michigan, Syracuse, and Georgetown, where he signed in the spring of 2004.

Joining the Hoyas in the 2004-05 season, Guibunda was all but invisible for the Hoyas in John Thompson III's first season as head coach. The 6-9 Guibunda played for just seven minutes all season in 2004-05, and did not see any action between Dec. 11, 2004 and the first round NIT game against Boston University in mid-March, scoring four of his six points that season in the post-season.

A transfer to American University, he started 32 games in 2007 and averaged 2.3 ppg over three seasons for the Eagles.