CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina freshman Caleb Wilson was a man on a mission Friday night.
It doesn’t seem like it takes much to rev up the 19-year-old forward, an energizer bunny on and off the court in a locker room filled otherwise with veterans. But in case he needed any extra motivation before playing his first marquee game as a Tar Heel, he used his phone lock screen as a reminder.
Wilson played in the McDonald’s All-American Game in the spring with Kansas star guard Darryn Peterson. Wilson’s day was quiet, just three points and only two shot attempts, while Peterson led the team in scoring. That night, usually a celebratory one (it is an all-star game, after all) left Wilson with a bad taste in his mouth. Wilson says he made his wallpaper something from that game, to remind him of how he felt when he wasn’t touching the ball.
That perceived slight might have turned up Wilson’s motor in the game from a 10 to an 11. From North Carolina’s first possession (a tip-in dunk by Wilson off a Kyan Evans missed three), Wilson played the part of a catalyst. And if he wasn’t a fan favorite from hyping up the crowd at Ludacris concerts and hosting giveaways in the preseason, he certainly heads home Friday night as the star of the show for a No. 25-ranked North Carolina team that made a strong early impression in an 87–74 win over No. 19 Kansas.
“He could run for student body president and he’d win, and he’s been here three months,” North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said.
Wilson carries himself with a not-so-quiet confidence (“Nobody out here can jump with me,” he recalls thinking before that opening dunk) and the type of emotion that can easily endear himself to his new fan base. In his 30 minutes tonight, he produced highlight-reel dunks, highly technical buckets in the midrange, a relentless energy hunting for loose balls and rebounds. And in between, plenty of gestures hyping up a crowd that was intent on exploding every chance it got. A player who says he decided he wanted to come to Carolina after watching the Heels beat Duke in Chapel Hill two years ago got his first chance at lighting the crowd on fire on his own and took it in a major way.
“It’s the best crowd in the world,” Wilson said. “Best place to be in the world. So I’m not going to be out there pouting and act like I’m too cool. Every time something good or something big happens, I’m definitely going to be excited.”
North Carolina’s players at least have come to expect Wilson’s nonstop energy. Evans joked that Wilson was a bit quieter in his first week on campus that summer, but since Week 2, Wilson has been bouncing off the walls … both in front of packed crowds and in empty practices.
“He’s always the same guy, no matter what he’s doing,” Evans said.
By every measure, senior (and returner) Seth Trimble is North Carolina’s leader. But the Heels’ emotional edge clearly comes from Wilson, and once North Carolina matched its star freshman’s exuberance, the second-half surge began. After a sloppy first half with 10 turnovers and just 10 made field goals, North Carolina played one of the sharpest second halves you’ll ever see, scoring an eye-popping 1.71 points per possession and getting everyone involved in the process. Evans, who really struggled in the first, had 12 points and hit a pair of threes. Trimble found his offensive footing going just 1 for 6 in the first. Role players Jarin Stevenson, Luka Bogavac and Jonathan Powell all hit threes.
But at the heart of it all was Wilson, with 12 points, three assists and three steals, helping dominate the battle in the paint to the tune of 36 points to 10 for Kansas. And what consistently popped off the page was Wilson’s ability to impact the game without the ball in his hands, flying around defensively and on the boards.
“I’ve played so many roles in my life on a basketball court,” Wilson said. “I’ve been the last person on the bench and I’ve been the star. I carry all those tricks with me.”
And those tricks helped North Carolina make an early statement about the potential for a bounce-back year after losing 14 games in 2025 and barely sneaking into the NCAA tournament. The Heels are by no means a finished product (see the sloppy first half as evidence of the room to grow and potential flaws), but this Carolina team and its hot seat head coach needed a performance like this early in the season and got it.
“I wanted this new team to have evidence of what it’s like to play in a game like this in the Smith Center and to come up big,” Davis said. “I just wanted to have a taste of what that’s like.”
As for Wilson, perhaps less measured than his media-trained head coach?
“I think it sets an aggressive tone,” Wilson said. “We’re here.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Caleb Wilson Ignites North Carolina Basketball in Statement Win: ‘We’re Here’.
