By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina added a key frontcourt player Thursday when former Vanderbilt forward Ven-Allen Lubin committed to the Tar Heels.
It will be the third school in three seasons for Lubin, a 6–8, 230-pound rising junior with two seasons of eligibility remaining. He played his freshman season at Notre Dame and his sophomore season at Vanderbilt, losing more than 20 games in both.
“Glory to the most high🙌🏾. Let’s get it Tar Heel Nation!!,” Lubin said in a post on X (formerly Twitter.)
Lubin played for former UNC star Jerry Stackhouse, who Vanderbilt fired on March 14 after a 9–23 season.
Lubin started only seven of 28 games and averaged 17.5 minutes for the Irish in the 2022–23 season, when they finished 11–21 in Coach Mike Brey’s last season at Notre Dame. Lubin started all 26 games for Vanderbilt last season, averaging 28.2 minutes, 12.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and one block.
His career high is 25 points, which he scored in a 74–73 home win on Feb. 13 over Texas A&M and in a 79–78 home win on March 9 over Florida. He had 11 rebounds in the Florida game for one of six career double-doubles. In his only double-double at Notre Dame, where he made the ACC All-Academic Team, he had 10 points and 13 rebounds on Nov. 25, 2022, in a 63–51 road loss to St. Bonaventure.
Via Brendan Marks of The Athletic, Lubin is in the 99th percentile nationally in second-chance points per game, the 91st percentile in offensive rebounds per game and shot 72.8% at the rim last season.
Lubin for the United States U19 team in last year’s FIBA World Cup with incoming UNC freshman Ian Jackson.
In Lubin’s only game against UNC, he had two points and five rebounds in 18 minutes of a 63–59 home loss on Feb. 22, 2023.
A four-star recruit out of Orlando Christian Prep, ESPN ranked him No. 74 in the Class of 2022, behind Jalen Washington (No. 40) and Seth Trimble (No. 49) but ahead of Tyler Nickel (No. 96), who started his career at UNC, played at Virginia Tech last season and will play at Vanderbilt next season.
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The class for next season is listed.
| No./ Stars | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 star | Freshman | Maximo Adams | SF | 6–7 | 205 |
| 3 star | Freshman | Malloy Smith | CG | 6–5 | 190 |
| 5 star | Freshman | Sayon Keita | C | 7–0 | 215 |
| 4 star | Freshman | Kevin Thomas | W | 6–7 | 190 |
| Freshman | Alexandros Samodurov | C | 6–11 | 212 | |
| RS freshman | Cade Bennerman — W | C | 7–0 | 205 | |
| Sophomore | Neoklis Avdalas — X | G | 6–9 | 215 | |
| Sophomore | Isaiah Denis | G | 6–4 | 180 | |
| Sophomore | Matt Able — Y | G | 6–5 | 196 | |
| 1 | Senior | Terrence Brown — Z | G | 6–3 | 174 |
| 4 | Senior | Jaydon Young | G | 6–4 | 200 |
| 15 | Senior | Jarin Stevenson | 4 | 6–10 | 215 |
| Graduate | Angelo Brizzi — ZZ | 2 | 6–3 | 193 | |
| Walk-ons | |||||
| 25 | Junior | John Holbrook | 4 | 6–8 | 230 |
| 32 | Senior | Evan Smith | 2 | 6–1 | 195 |
W — Northwestern transfer. X — Virginia Tech transfer; Y — N.C. State transfer; Z — Utah transfer; ZZ — Buffalo transfer
Michael Malone’s coaching staff: Chuck Martin, Bryan Tibaldi, Sean May and Pat Sullivan; Deon Thompson will be a graduate assistant, and Brandon Robinson will reportedly have a support staff position.
Players who left for the transfer portal
| Player | Class next season | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt | Next school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luka Bogavac | Senior | W | 6–6 | 215 | Oklahoma State |
| James Brown | Senior | C | 6–10 | 240 | Howard |
| Derek Dixon | Sophomore | G | 6–5 | 200 | Arizona |
| Kyan Evans | Senior | G | 6–2 | 175 | Minnesota |
| Zayden High | Junior | C | 6–10 | 230 | South Florida |
| Jonathan Powell | Junior | G | 6–6 | 190 | Pittsburgh |
| Ivan Matlekovic | Junior | C | 7–0 | 255 |
Schedule so far
(Other than the ACC/SEC Challenge, games without links revealed from reporting by Alex Rosinski or Rocco Miller)
(13 of 14 games)
Oct. 18 — exhibition game vs. Indiana at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis
Nov. 2 — vs. Western Carolina
Nov. 6 — vs. Wofford
Nov. 10 — vs. Wyoming
Nov. 13 — vs. Georgia
Nov. 20 — vs. Marshall
Nov. 27 — vs. West Virginia at the Dick Vitale Invitational at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center
Dec. 1 — vs. Arkansas in ACC/SEC Challenge
Dec. 6 — vs. Butler
Dec. 12 — at Georgetown
Dec. 15 (tentative date) — vs. N.C. State in a non-conference game in Greensboro
Dec. 19 — vs. Kentucky in CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden, 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 21 — vs. The Citadel
Jan. 30 — vs. Illinois in Nashville, Tenn.
ACC games
Home and away: Duke, Louisville
Home only: California, Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, SMU, Stanford, Virginia
Away only: Boston College, Florida State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Photo via @VandyMBB
