Mike Brey provides Ven-Allen Lubin injury update

The hits keep coming for Notre Dame‘s Ven-Allen Lubin on the injury front, with a sprained ankle keeping him out of Saturday’s win over Louisville.

Coach Mike Brey revealed the reason for Lubin’s absence on Saturday following the 76-62 win over the Cardinals.

“I would hope he’d be ready to go next Saturday,” Brey said. “That’s been really frustrating. Just when the kid gets some momentum — and I thought he played really well in Raleigh the other night — he tweaked it yesterday. When you think about him it’s been the retina, the eye, the broken nose. He’s just not been able to get going.”

Prior to his latest tweak of the sprained ankle, Lubin had averaged 5.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game for the Fighting Irish.

With Lubin sidelined, Notre Dame leaned more on Dom Campbell for contributions off the bench. Campbell scored two points and pulled down one board in five minutes of action against Louisville, helping supplement the lineup thanks to the Ven-Allen Lubin injury.

“But I thought Don gave us good stuff,” Brey said. “We’re going to invest in him. Maybe we have to invest in him more if Ven’s not back.”

Mike Brey plans to recruit some players to stay

With Mike Brey planning to retire after the season, he’s noted he’s going to do his best to leave the next coach a capable roster.

That means recruiting a few veterans to stick around.

In the era of the transfer portal, this type of coaching turnover can lead to an exodus of players seeking a coach of their choice. Brey doesn’t want this to happen at Notre Dame, though. So, he’s working to re-recruit key freshmen JJ Starling and Ven-Allen Lubin.

“Absolutely. One of the things I’ve talked to our younger players about and the three young men that we’ve signed is don’t knee jerk,” Mike Brey said.

“I’ve been in this a long time. Give us a chance. You know, one of the big reasons the underclassmen and the recruiting class, one of the reasons was you love Notre Dame, and the education, and a lot of those things. So, you know, while everyone will pull at those guys, and I get it, and you know just don’t knee jerk and let us finish the semester academically, finish the season with this staff as we work with you to work and help you get better, and meet the new guy.”