Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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48 NOV. 5, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED MEN'S BASKETBALL BY PATRICK ENGEL T he rotation that might be Mike Brey's oldest in 23 seasons at Notre Dame will have one of his youngest starting forwards. Freshman Ven-Allen Lubin open- ing the season in the starting lineup — which Brey says will happen — is not the route the Irish head coach initially wanted or expected to go, but it's the option that quickly presented itself as the best one during summer workouts and remained that way through pre- season practice. It's a risky one in a league like the ACC. A rare one in a program that lives to get old and stay old. But, based on a few practice viewings, an intriguing one. Since enrolling at Notre Dame in June, Lubin has convinced Brey he is a freshman in designation only. That's no small feat. The last Notre Dame fresh- man forward to start at least 10 games was Luke Harangody in 2006-07. "There's a real maturity and serious- ness about him," Brey said. Lubin and graduate student Nate Laszewski will be Notre Dame's starting forwards when the Irish open the season vs. Radford Nov. 10. Their skills sets are more interchangeable than Laszewski and 2021-22 starting center Paul At- kinson Jr., which should allow them to move between the frontcourt spots as Brey sees fit. But Lubin will see plenty of minutes in Atkinson's old spot. Skill-wise, Lubin is a stark contrast to Atkinson. He's a "power wing" — in his own words. Atkinson, meanwhile, was a true back-to-the-basket center. Both, though, represented a leap of faith by Brey. Atkinson was a graduate trans- fer from Yale and had to prove he could handle the jump in competition. Lubin has that same acclimation challenge, but from high school to college. In a way, Brey and Notre Dame are hoping to hit on the same bet twice. Brey initially wanted to find Atkin- son's replacement in the transfer por- tal. But spring portal pursuits were not fruitful, leaving him to hope Laszewski would spurn the pros for one more col- lege season (which he did June 1) and that one of Lubin, fellow freshman cen- ter Dom Campbell or junior Matt Zona could prove worthy of a heavy work- load. "What solved it was I didn't know Nate was coming back," Brey said. "We're going through it and thinking, well, let's at least have one experienced Lubin, a 6-foot-8, 226-pound forward who was the No. 69 overall player in the 2022 class per the On3 Consensus, will try to be the first freshman forward to start at least 10 games for the Irish since Luke Harangody in 2006-07. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS FRESHMAN IN THE FRONTCOURT Notre Dame is putting its faith in first-year forward Ven-Allen Lubin as a starter