Caleb Wilson is from Atlanta, but he bleeds Carolina blue. That was especially evident when the 19-year-old forward scored 17 of the now-No. 16 Tar Heels’ 29 first-half points in their thrilling win over then-No. 4 Duke on Feb. 7. He’s one of the top prospects in a highly anticipated NBA Draft, but it’s clear North Carolina has his undivided attention.
It’s only been a week since he suffered a fracture in his left hand during the first half of a loss to Miami, and Wilson is already on track to return “soon,” according to UNC coach Hubert Davis.
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Wilson’s injury is on his non-shooting hand. He’s been playing with a cast on that hand, and Davis said he’s been good in practice.
“Caleb, he is great,” Davis said Monday night on his semi-weekly radio show, per ESPN. “I think if I said ‘OK,’ I think he would play with his cast on or his splint. I think he would.
“He’s just champing at the bit to come back because obviously he loves to play, but he loves his teammates and he loves playing here.”
Davis’ update comes four days after UNC announced Wilson would be out “indefinitely.” The school explained at the time that, even though Wilson’s mid-game X-rays came back negative — and that he went back in during the second half against Miami — additional imaging done in Chapel Hill revealed the fracture.
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Similar to Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa and Duke’s Cameron Boozer, Wilson is drawing serious interest from NBA teams.
He’s a former five-star prospect who was the No. 5 overall recruit in last year’s class, according to Rivals’ industry ranking. He hit the ground running at UNC, where he’s averaged a team-leading 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game while shooting 57.8% from the field.
The 6-foot-10 Wilson is also posting 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per game.
He started his collegiate career by scoring in double figures in each of his 24 games — no Tar Heels freshman had done that before — and his 17 20-point games are already a freshman program record as well.
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“You will not have a better player, person and teammate than Caleb,” Davis said, via ESPN. “It’s just impossible. There is just no way you can do it. What a great example of when things weren’t particularly going his way in regards to his hand, he’s still a great teammate.”
UNC improved to 20-5, including 8-4 in ACC play, in a 79-65 win over Pitt on Saturday without Wilson.
The Tar Heels play Tuesday night on the road against North Carolina State. They have top-25 games remaining versus No. 21 Louisville and now-No. 3 Duke. Their rematch with the Blue Devils will take place in Durham for the teams’ March 7 regular-season finale.
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