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.
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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.
Roster assuming all players with eligibility other than Caleb Wilson, Henri Veesaar and the seven players who entered the transfer portal return, which would put UNC one under the 15-player limit. 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 |
| 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
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)
(11 of 14 games)
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. 12 — at Georgetown
Dec. 19 — vs. Kentucky in CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden, 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 21 — vs. The Citadel
November or December — vs. Butler
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 courtesy of the ACC
