Will Wade: ‘I don’t think Ven-Allen Lubin is appreciated enough’

Ven-Allen Lubin was a late addition in the portal. At the time, there was a lot of chatter about NC State likely landing 7-foot center Paul Mbiya from the Congo.

The addition of Lubin was nice because stealing talent from your rival is always appreciated, but nobody was really expecting Ven-Allen Lubin to be this darn good.

Well, maybe I shouldn’t speak for everyone. Lubin averaged 9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game (in just 20 minutes per game), but at 6’8, on a roster with a 4-man that’s 6’6, you’d be lying if you said you weren’t a little concerned with NC State’s ceiling inside the paint.

Lubin, however, has been anything but a liability. In fact, he’s been the most consistent thing about this NC State basketball team.

Meanwhile, Paul Mbiya is over at Kansas playing 4 minutes per game, averaging less than a point per game, and bringing down less than 2 boards per game. Lubin, on the other hand, is filling up the box score.

He’s averaging almost 14 points and 7 rebounds in almost 28 minutes per game.

He’s physical, he’s got good footwork, good hands, a great motor, and he doesn’t make mistakes….he also rarely misses.

Lubin is currently leading the ACC in FG%.

Lubin is currently shooting 68.2% from the field, which leads the ACC and ranks fifth nationally. We talked about it here…

Will Wade called it.

Ven-Allen Lubin is shooting 68.5% from the field, leading the ACC and ranking 4th nationally.

UNC didn’t play him.
NC State did.
Now he’s dominating.

🔗 https://t.co/IIm7lLjmaS

— PackInsider.com (@PackInsider) January 28, 2026

And now Wade is talking about Lubin and his consistency. Here is what he had to say…

WADE: Look, Lubin has been our most reliable and dependable guy all year. I mean, he’s been incredible for us. I appreciate you asking about him because he kind of gets lost in the shuffle, and I don’t think he’s appreciated nearly enough in terms of everything he does for our team. He’s been phenomenal, and, you know, obviously, a big #24 will be a big, big challenge. 24 is physical and huge and ducks in, and he does a lot of things that help him win, so it’ll be a big challenge for Vin, but Vin’s answered every challenge.

He doesn’t miss. He hasn’t missed hardly anything for us. He’s been just absolutely phenomenal for us. Very, very proud and pleased of everything he’s done for our team.