In today’s transfer portal era, rivalry lines are increasingly blurred — and switching sides in heated matchups is no longer a rarity. Former North Carolina basketball forward Ven-Allen Lubin is among the latest to make that jump — signing with NC State earlier this June. Lubin spent just one season in Chapel Hill, and now joins his fourth program in four years. Despite starting 20 games and leading all UNC forwards in minutes and scoring, Lubin’s role often felt disproportionate to his output.
“The other school was too dumb to play him,” first-year NC State coach Will Wade said in a video that surfaced on social media Sunday. “When [Lubin] plays 28-plus minutes — he’s done that in 23 games — he averages 15 (points) and eight (rebounds). I don’t know why the hell they didn’t play him, but we’re gonna play him. So he’s gonna average 15 and eight. We’re very excited about Ven.”
Lubin averaged 8.7 points and 5.5 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per game at UNC. He played in all 37 games, rotating in and out of the starting lineup throughout the 2024-25 season. The 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward shot 68.4% from the field and 71.1% from the free-throw line. In two games against NC State, Lubin totaled just 17 points and 12 rebounds in 25 minutes of action.
Lubin rated as a four-star prospect in the 2025 transfer portal cycle, ranking No. 142 overall and No. 23 power forward.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Ven-Allen to our program,” Wade said in a release at the time of the signing. “Physically, he stands out with a wingspan over seven feet and a strong, powerful frame. Offensively, he creates mismatches — he can score over smaller defenders in the post and has the quickness to drive past bigger ones. He also showed the ability while at Vanderbilt to step out and be a weapon from three-point range and we’ll look to build off of that.
“He’s an incredibly efficient scorer, having led his team in field goal percentage each of his first three college seasons. Beyond that, he has a high basketball IQ and will be a tremendous presence in our locker room.”
Lubin began his college career at Notre Dame in 2022-23 as a four-star prospect out of Christian Prep in Orlando, Fla. He averaged 6.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game as a freshman with the Fighting Irish before transferring to Vanderbilt, where he posted career bests with 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Across three seasons, Lubin has made 53 career starts.
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