Vanderbilt Transfer Ven-Allen Lubin Commits to UNC

North Carolina has added another piece to its 2024-25 roster with a commitment from Vanderbilt forward Ven-Allen Lubin. The 6-8, 230-pound sophomore made his announcement Thursday, just over a week after his official visit to Chapel Hill.

Lubin is the second transfer portal commitment this offseason for the Tar Heels, following Belmont sharpshooter Cade Tyson, who committed on April 28. With the departure of Armando Bacot and the NBA declaration of Harrison Ingram, the top projected returning frontcourt production for the Tar Heels is from Jae’Lyn Withers (4.2 points, 3.6 rebounds) and Jalen Washington (3.9 points, 2.6 rebounds), hence the need for a roster addition via the portal.

Lubin averaged 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds last season while manning the middle for Vanderbilt, closing the season with 25 points and 11 rebounds vs. Florida, then 21 points, 10 rebounds and three steals vs. Arkansas.

“His strengths are he’s good around the basket, good rebounder, athleticism, and then his ability to be a mismatch,” said Treig Burke, who coached Lubin at Orlando (Fla.) Christian Prep (and also coached former Tar Heel Nas Little). “I think that’s what gave him a lot of success at Vanderbilt — he was a mismatch on the floor, rebounded consistently, and so he was really productive for them …

“The (UNC staff) shared they need someone like him who has two years of experience and had some success in the SEC production-wise. They feel like his experience and production could be valuable to them.”

Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse, a Tar Heel legend, was fired following the season. Lubin entered the transfer portal on May 1, the last day of the spring portal window. Carolina coaches reached out to him several days later. He was also receiving interest from Mississippi State and SMU, among others.

Lubin shot 33.3 percent for the season on three-point attempts, hitting multiple threes three times during the season, including 2-for-5 in that win over Florida and a 2-for-3 outing at Tennessee a month prior.

“We want to be able to take advantage of when they sag off him,” Stackhouse said during the season. “We run some plays for him because he shoots it at a good clip, but we don’t want to take away his other strengths as well. He’s a really good post player, throwing it down there to him, and he’s a good passer as well when teams bring the double team. He has a knack for finishing, with really good touch around the basket…”  

This was Lubin’s second time in the portal, as he started his college career at Notre Dame (on the same roster as eventual Tar Heel Cormac Ryan), posting 6.2 points and 4.4 rebounds with seven starts in 2022-23. Lubin was selected last summer to the USA U19 National Team, where he averaged 5.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.0 blocks on a squad that finished in fourth place at the FIBA World Cup in Hungry. Coming out of high school, Lubin was ranked the No. 12 power forward nationally and No. 74 overall prospect by the 247Sports Composite in the 2022 class.