The North Carolina Tar Heels were fortunate to only see one player leave in the college basketball transfer portal, but they haven’t had the same success with new players.
Some people call the transfer portal free agency for college sports, especially with NIL money being offered to try to influence decisions. There are fans who like the portal, but others don’t.
Personally, I like the portal, in part because UNC men’s basketball coach Hubert Davis shows the ability to make impactful transfers. He did it during his first offseason with Brady Manek, last year with Harrison Ingram and Cormac, and recently with Cade Tyson.
North Carolina has a chance to bring in another key player from the portal: Vanderbilt’s Ven-Allen Lubin, who the Tar Heels recently expressed interest in and arranged a visit with.
Lubin started all 26 games last season for the Commodores, averaging 12.3 points per game on 50% shooting, 6.3 rebounds per game and a team-high one block per game.
That visit scheduled by UNC? It’s today, May 14th – and we hope Lubin walks away with a scholarship offer.
#UNCHost Vandy moves Ven-Allen Lubin today.
The 6’8, 230 pound forward averaged 12.3 points (50% shooting) and 6.3 rebs last season. He played his true freshman year at Notre Dame at 22-23.
Do you want to see Lubin in Carolina blue next season?
-Jacob Turner (@JacobTurnerTHI) May 14, 2024
If North Carolina is lucky to land Lubin, who was a rare bright spot on a Vandy team that failed to reach 10 wins, I imagine he will compete with Jae’Lyn Withers for the Tar Heels’ starting forward position. Lubin has the starting experience that Withers doesn’t, but Withers knows the system.
Fingers crossed for good news this week.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire in X and like our page at Facebook to keep up with ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
