Notre Dame Basketball: 2022 4-Star Forward Ven-Allen Lubin Commits to the Fighting Irish

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s basketball team continued its recent recruiting momentum Tuesday evening, as class of 2022 4-star forward Ven-Allen Lubin committed to Mike Brey’s program in a fun video on his Instagram account.

The 6’8”, 220-lb prospect from Orlando Christian Prep in Orlando, Florida is ranked 76th in the 247sports composite rankings for the class of 2022, giving the Irish three top-100 players in the class — the other two being #33 J.J. Starling, who committed to the Irish last month, and #93 Dom Campbell, who kicked off this class’s commitments last summer.

Lubin is the perfect complementary player to go along with Starling as a do-it-all guard and Campbell as a low-post, below-the-rim big man. He’s got the length and athleticism to defend opponents both on the perimeter and at the rim as a shot-blocker, and is capable of running the floor for electric dunks while also stretching out to the three point line and draining jumpers over shorter defenders.

He’s the type of long, talented athlete that the Irish are used to facing when they play Florida State or Louisville — to add him to this class is a huge step forward for what the team will be capable of over the next few years.

The Irish beat out the Clemson Tigers, Virginia Tech Hokies, and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets for his commitment, and you gotta think that once again the additions of Anthony Solomon and Antoni Wyche helped play a role here, considering how late the Irish were in really recruiting Lubin hard. 247sports shows Notre Dame’s official offer not being extended until late October, a few weeks after his official visit. I’m not positive that’s completely accurate, but the Irish were recruiting from behind here for sure, making this a big-time get for Brey and his staff no matter when they actually extended an official offer.

It’s crazy to think about, but the near future looks pretty bright all of a sudden. Yes, the Irish will lose Paul Atkinson Jr. after this year and probably see Prentiss Hubb and Nate Laszewski depart as well, but a solid upperclassmen group of Dane Goodwin, Cormac Ryan, and Trey Wertz should be able to combine with lots of exciting young talent (Blake Wesley, J.R. Konieczny, Starling, Lubin, Campbell) next season in a nice little refresh for the program.

Here’s to hoping the positive momentum continues into the actual team’s performance this year, with regular season play kicking off on Saturday against Cal State Northridge at 12 PM ET at Purcell Pavilion.