By R.L. Bynum
As if losing a dependable player to a rival school isn’t bad enough for the North Carolina fanbase, first-year N.C. State coach Will Wade is taking shots at how much the Tar Heels played Ven-Allen Lubin.
While speaking to Wolfpack fans during a 1 Pack event on Saturday night at the Tobacco Road Sports Café and Brewery in Raleigh, Wade wondered why Lubin didn’t play more. One Pack is an NIL collective.
“The other school was too dumb to play him,” said Wade, touting Lubin’s production when he plays at least 28 minutes, although he was a little off on the numbers. In the 24 career games at Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and UNC when he got that much playing time, he averaged 14.8 points and 7.1 rebounds. His teams are 7–17 in those games.
“I don’t know why the hell they didn’t play him,” said Wade, who is no doubt aware that Lubin started 20 games for Carolina. “But we’re going to play him, so he’s going to average 15 and eight. We’re excited about Ven.”
Lubin played at least 28 minutes in five games last season for Carolina, averaging 13.6 points and 6.8 rebounds, including 20 points and 10 rebounds in the 74–71 loss to Duke in the semifinals of the ACC tournament.
The decision to transfer will likely mean more playing time for the 6–8 Lubin, who played as an undersized five-man for UNC while averaging 19.6 minutes, 8.7 points and 5.5 rebounds.
Lubin would have likely played off the bench for Carolina, behind 7–0 Arizona transfer center Henri Veesaar — ranked by ESPN as the No. 14 transfer portal player — and/or five-star 6–9 freshman forward Caleb Wilson.
With 6–11 newcomer Paul Mbiya, who is from the Democratic Republic of Congo, expected to start at center for the Wolfpack, Lubin will probably be one of two starting forwards, along with 6–6 Texas Tech transfer Darrion Williams.
ESPN ranked Williams as the No. 4 player in the transfer portal.
UNC roster
(Next season’s classes listed)
| No. | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freshman | Caleb Wilson (5 star) | 4 | 6–9 | 205 | |
| Freshman | Isaiah Denis (4 star) | CG | 6–5 | 175 | |
| Freshman | Derek Dixon (4 star) | CG | 6-3 | 190 | |
| Freshman | Luca Bogavac | W | 6-5 | 201 | |
| Sophomore | Jonathan Powell | G | 6-6 | 191 | |
| 2 | Sophomore | James Brown | 5 | 6–8 | 225 |
| 1 | Sophomore | Zayden High | 4 | 6–9 | 225 |
| Junior | Luca Bogavac | W | 6-5 | 201 | |
| Junior | Jaydon Young | 2 | 6–4 | 205 | |
| RS junior | Henri Veesaar | 5 | 7–0 | 235 | |
| Junior | Kyan Evans | 1 | 6–2 | 175 | |
| Junior | Jarin Stevenson | 4 | 6–11 | 215 | |
| 7 | Senior | Seth Trimble | 2 | 6–3 | 195 |
| Walk-ons | |||||
| 15 | Sophomore | John Holbrook | 4 | 6–8 | 230 |
| 14 | Junior | Russell Hawkins | 2 | 6–1 | 175 |
| 6 | RS Senior | Elijah Davis | 2 | 6–4 | 197 |
UNC players entering portal
| Player | Class next season | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt | Next school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elliot Cadeau | Junior | PG | 6–1 | 180 | Michigan |
| Jalen Washington | Senior | C | 6–10 | 235 | Vanderbilt |
| Ian Jackson | Sophomore | G | 6–4 | 190 | St. John’s |
| Cade Tyson | Senior | F | 6–7 | 200 | Minnesota |
| Ven-Allen Lubin | Senior | C | 6–8 | 230 | N.C. State |
UNC schedule
Oct. 24 — Exhibition vs. BYU at Delta Center in Salt Lake City
Nov. 3 — vs. Central Arkansas (finished 9–24, 349th in KenPom; first meeting)
Nov. 7 — vs. Kansas (21–13; 24th; lost to Arkansas in first round of NCAA tournament; series tied at 6)
Nov. 11 — vs. Radford (20–13, 151st; UNC leads series 3–0)
Nov. 17 or 18 — vs. Navy (15–19, 276th; Navy leads 14–6)
Nov. 25 — vs. St. Bonaventure, likely at 6 p.m. (21–11; 97th; lost to Kent State in first round of the NIT; UNC leads 1–0) in Fort Myers Tip-Off
Nov. 27 — vs. Michigan State, likely 4:30 p.m. (30–7; 7th; lost to Auburn in Elite Eight; UNC leads 13–4) in Fort Myers Tip-Off
Likely December (TBA) — vs. Georgetown (18–16; 90th; Georgetown leads 5–4)
Dec. 2 — at Kentucky in ACC/SEC Challenge (24–12, 16th; UNC leads 25–18)
Dec. 13 — USC Upstate (6–26, 340th; first meeting)
Dec. 20 — CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta against Ohio State (17–15; 37th; UNC leads 13–3)
Dec. 22 — vs. East Carolina (19–14; 176th; UNC leads 4–0)
Date TBA — vs. N.C. Central (10–19; 319th; UNC leads 3–0)
One more nonconference game
Likely Feb. 1 or Feb. 8 — vs. Duke (35–4; 1st; UNC leads 145–120)
Likely March 7 — at Duke
ACC games
Home and home vs. Duke and Syracuse
Other home games against Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pitt, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest
Other road games against California, Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, SMU, Stanford and Virginia
Photo courtesy of the ACC
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