Rivalries create tension in the beautiful sport of basketball. Players get in each other’s faces, and fans engage in many battles online. However, it appears that rivalry can vanish when some money is thrown on the table.
Ven-Allen Lubin won’t have to travel far for the next university he will be playing basketball at. He will only have to travel 25 miles down I-40.
Lubin announced on Sunday that he will commit to North Carolina State, the instate rivals of North Carolina.
🐺#WolfPack pic.twitter.com/YEC0RcVqCF
— Ven-Allen Lubin®️ (@LubinVen) June 1, 2025
The size of Lubin allowed him to get the wheels rolling for the Tar Heels off the bench. The six-foot-eight, 230-pound forward averaged 8.7 points per game on 68.4% shooting from the field. He also brought in 5.5 rebounds during his 19.5 minutes per game.
Will Wade finds a new wolf to enter the Wolfpack he now leads. After building McNeese State’s basketball program into a belligerent team, he will get that opportunity with North Carolina State.
Lubin will be the eighth transfer Coach Wade has landed for the Wolfpack. Lubin joins a transfer portal that includes Texas Tech’s Darrion Williams and Michigan State’s Tre Holloman.
Lubin has made the most out of the transfer portal as the senior will now play for his fourth school. The Orlando, Florida, native committed to Notre Dame as a freshman. He then transferred to Vanderbilt before committing to North Carolina.
The imposing forward should fit well into the plans of Coach Wade and his schemes. During his tenure at McNeese State, his strategy was to play persistent defense that forced teams to turn over the ball. Then, they would dominate with size and aggressiveness on the offensive side.
Lubin fits perfectly into a transfer class that has an average height of just under six-foot-six.
North Carolina State is now ranked No. 13 in the best transfer portals, according to 247Sports. The Wolfpack has the second-highest ranked class in the ACC, trailing No. 3 ranked Louisville.