Caleb Wilson drawing KD, Tatum comparisons: "Kentucky (offer) caught me off guard"

If you’re looking for the next player with NBA size and tools the basketball world will drool over in the coming years, Caleb Wilson is your guy. The 6-foot-9 forward recently jumped up to No. 4 in the recent 2025 On3 150 and followed it up by averaging 16.9 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per contest in the 17U Peach Invitational (P.I.T) at Peach Jam. That came after putting up 14.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.8 blocks per game during the EYBL regular season.

He’s young and raw, working through efficiency and motor inconsistencies playing up an age group. But the gifts are there, and blue-blood programs have noticed. Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina are among Wilson’s recent offers, a humbling experience for the Atlanta native.

“It’s been really fun, but also humbling, in my opinion. I feel like schools coming at me like Kentucky, Duke, UNC, those guys being interested in me really puts a target on my back,” he said. “So I feel like I’m happy about it and very appreciative I got those offers, but it really just makes me want to go harder. Now I’ve got to produce. I’ve got to be one of the best, if not the best player in the country.”

Kentucky catches the five-star by surprise

He’s got a long list of scholarship offers — 20 total, to be exact. The one that most took him by surprise? John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats, a coach and school he’s been following closely growing up around basketball.

“Kentucky caught me off guard because that’s a huge school, it’s an SEC school in a physical conference. That was a pretty big one, that was a shocker,” Wilson said. “I’ve been talking to Chin Coleman, then after NBPA Top 100 Camp, I got on the phone with John Calipari. That’s when he offered me.

“I watched them a lot, I grew up watching a lot of college basketball because that’s where I’m gonna go next. I like how he uses his players, he trusts them. Of course he has a system, but he still allows his players to play free within that system.”

Duke, UNC offers are intriguing

And then there’s Duke, who offered at the conclusion of Peach Jam after following him from the start of the EYBL regular season. Like Kentucky, that’s a program he’s liked since he was a kid, as well.

“They’re telling me they’re really interested in me, have been since that first game of EYBL,” he added. “I really like it, I watched Duke basketball growing up and they’re pretty intriguing to me.”

What about the Tar Heels, his first blue-blood offer back in May? What does he like about head coach Hubert Davis and what he’s doing in Chapel Hill?

“I was really excited (about the offer),” Wilson said. “Hubert Davis is a really cool guy, it was a down to Earth conversation. When you think of Hubert Davis, you think of one of the best coaches in America, but he’s a really cool person. That was cool.”

Achieving blue-blood status

What does it mean for him to achieve blue-blood status as a prospect, knowing he’s now got his pick of essentially any college to choose from when it comes time to make a decision? He mentioned before there’s a target on his back, but there’s also an added motivation to continue developing his craft and proving he belongs. Proving he’s worthy of the interest from title-contending programs looking to hang banners.

“It is pretty cool, but I try not to let it get to my head too much. I just feel like I have so much more work to do,” Wilson told KSR. “It’s like, I work out with pro guys, guys that play overseas, and I think I’m good in high school right now, but these guys are next level. I’m really happy about it, it’s cool that Kentucky likes me, but I’ve got to go. I need to keep getting better so they stay interested in me.”

Who else is making a push?

But it’s not just the blue bloods in contention — everyone is tripping over themselves to earn the five-star forward’s commitment. Among the others?

Alabama: “The way they used Brandon Miller last year. I feel like we’re offensively similar players. I feel like I have a better defensive prowess than him at this age — I still have to work on it a whole bunch, but I feel like when I get to that point, I’ll have more of a defensive prowess. But I like the way that they used him.”

Tennessee: “Rick Barnes coached KD (Kevin Durant) at Texas and he says I’m really like him. And I really like that, because of course I like what KD looks like now.”

Georgia Tech: “They’ve been comparing me to Jayson Tatum, Coach Stoudamire used to coach for the Celtics. So he says he sees a lot of him in me. When I went on an unofficial there a couple of months ago, he showed me clips of us doing the same things. That was pretty interesting to me, pretty nice to see.”

Wilson added that Georgia, Stanford and Cincinnati are also among the schools recruiting him the hardest, with USC also extending a recent scholarship offer. The 6-foot-9 standout expects to take official visits to UNC, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Alabama and Tennessee starting in September.

Wilson’s end goal as a player

He describes himself as a “playmaker,” someone capable of taking games over on both ends of the floor. “One of my best attributes is passing the ball, so a lot of coaches like that because it opens up their offense. They see me as a Scottie Barnes-type player, a defender who can guard a lot of positions. Someone who can make plays on the offensive end.”

What does he see himself as at the next level and beyond? What’s his end goal as a basketball player? Well, it depends on what his body does.

“I think it depends on how tall I’m supposed to get, because the doctor says I’m nowhere near done growing,” he told KSR. “I’m 6-9 now, so I feel like I could end up being a KD-type player with my length and my ball handling, but KD is more offensively minded. I want to be both facets of the game, I love guarding the best players. That’s something I take pride in. It’d be more like a Scottie Barnes-type of athletic skillset.”

What is he looking for in a school?

When it comes time to make a college decision, he’s looking for a coaching staff that will help him turn that potential into NBA-level production.

“What I’m looking for in a school is a coaching staff that believes in me. A coaching staff that has put people where I want to go,” Wilson said. “I like coaching staffs that can mold me into an NBA player. If you have a record of putting players like me in the NBA, I’m definitely intrigued with your school.”

Will that school be Kentucky? It started with an offer, now a potential visit in the coming months. We’ll see where things go from there.