Published Apr 21, 2025
Ven-Allen Lubin Entering Transfer Portal, Yet Says he will Return
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Andrew Jones  •  TarHeelIllustrated
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North Carolina junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin has entered his name in the transfer portal one day before the deadline but says he intends on returning to Chapel Hill for his final season of eligibility.

Lubin has a signed contract with UNC and was set to return until the past few days when he decided it was best to enter. He tweeted about it Monday afternoon but was not specific:

“Before anybody jumps to the wrong conclusion, I am letting everyone know that I am entering the transfer portal with full intent on returning to UNC. My action relates to the complexities surrounding the possible approval of the pending NCAA settlement,” Lubin wrote in his tweet.

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Lubin, who is 6-foot-8 and came to UNC after playing one year at Notre Dame and then a season at Vanderbilt, leaves Carolina after finishing fifth on the team averaging 8.7 points per game.

He started 20 of 37 games averaging 19.5 minutes per contest. His other numbers on the year include leading the team with 5.5 rebounds per contest and 34 blocked shots. He shot 134-for-196 (68.4%) from the field and was 54-for-76 (71.1%) from the free throw line.

Yet, over UNC’s last 11 games, Lubin averaged 24.4 minutes while producing 13.6 points and 7.2 rebounds. He had three double doubles in a row in the ACC Tournament, plus had one at Virginia Tech during the final week of the regular season.

Lubin indicated multiple times late in the season he appeared to have found a home at UNC and often spoke about how much he enjoyed it there. Following Carolina’s loss to Mississippi in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, he was most proud of how the team kept pushing and eventually found success. He said their relationships away from basketball were key.

“We stuck together. The way we bonded off the court, just the way we’ve grown through the season,” he said. “We had a lot of bumpy roads on the court, but we stuck together. We didn’t criticize, we didn’t blame, we didn’t judge, we just continued to stick together.”

Lubin has one more year of eligibility remaining at UNC or somewhere else. The deadline to enter the portal is midnight Tuesday.