UNC Basketball Caleb Wilson Q&A: ‘I Knew Then That I Wanted to Beat Duke’

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson met with reporters Thursday afternoon, ahead of his highly anticipated freshman season with the Tar Heels.

The stretchy 6-foot-10 leaper is the lone five-star prospect UNC reeled in during the last high school recruiting cycle. He ranked as the eighth-best prospect nationally from the 2025 prep class. Wilson starred at Holy Innocents Episcopal School in Atlanta, where he piled up averages of 21.7 points, 11.1 rebounds, 5 assists, 3.6 blocked shots and 2.1 steals per game last season during his senior campaign. Those exploits helped him earn the 2025 Gatorade Player of the Year honor in the state of Georgia, while his team claimed an independent school state title.

Wilson showed flashes of his lofty potential for the Tar Heels in the Blue-White scrimmage game last week. He contributed 13 points, six rebounds and two assists to go along with five steals, according to unofficial stats compiled by Evan Rogers of Inside Carolina. A pair of fadeaway jumpers and an emphatic put-back dunk off an offensive rebound highlighted Wilson’s showing that day.

UNC has a high-profile exhibition game at BYU (on Oct. 24) and another exhibition game against Winston-Salem State (on Oct. 29), before opening the new season on Nov. 3 against Central Arkansas.

Watch Wilson’s full interview from Thursday’s availability at the Smith Center, and scroll down to read some noteworthy comments below.

A lot of people seem to overlook your passing ability. What do you think leads you to be such a willing distributor?

Wilson: “I played a lot of sports that required throwing growing up.  I played baseball. I was a shortstop, I played pitcher, I played first (base), and then football, I played quarterback. So getting the ball and distributing has always been a part of what I’ve done in my entire life. I always feel like I’ve been a capable and good passer, but I feel like the more I’ve learned, the more I’ve been able to understand basketball. Not just who’s guarding me, but who’s around me. It’s been easier for me to make decisions.”

As basketball continues to move toward a ‘position-less’ type of game, do you feel like there is a position you play best? Or are you still figuring out how you fit in?

Wilson: “I feel like basketball is kind of position-less at this point, and especially the way I’m used in our system. I don’t want to say I’m a ‘four’ or ‘three,’ because I feel like I do so much. I feel like in whatever the case needs to be, I’m going to be able to do what it takes. If I needed to just rebound the basketball, that’s what I’ll do. But I think I pass the ball just like a guard. I think I rebound like a ‘four’ or ‘five,’ and I think I’m athletic as a ‘three,’ ‘two’ or ‘one,’ so I don’t understand putting people in positions. I just feel like you just play what’s needed to go, what’s needed to happen in basketball. To me, it is a sport that’s not predictable. It’s not like football, where if you’re a running back, this is all you’re doing. I can get a rebound, and I push like a guard would, so it’s hard to box myself in.”

Where does your confidence come from?

Wilson: “First of all, you’ve got to work to get it. I feel like someone can’t give that to you. So I mean, I’ve never worked as hard in my entire life as this past summer, like I was working out at 10 p.m. at night by myself and doing a bunch of different things that I felt like separated me from everybody else in the country. So I feel like my confidence really came just this summer, and knowing that I’m working so hard and doing things that aren’t normal. I feel like it’s all for myself.”

How do you balance the working on improving side of basketball with your outgoing and fun-loving personality?

Wilson: “My dad’s always told me, life has to be a balance. I love to have fun off the court, but that’s not why I’m here. I’m here to make myself a legend and win a bunch of games. So I didn’t commit to Carolina to come here and go to karaoke night. I came here to be a great basketball player. So I do things that are kind of freeing mentally off the court, because I feel like it’s definitely important for you to have a mental balance. You can’t put all your mental cards in one deck. So I try to do things that kind of take my mind off basketball. But it’s hard for me to do it, but it’s good for me, because the ball is going to stop bouncing one day. You want to have certain stuff that you can fall back on. But I love basketball, and I love the grind. I love seeing myself get better. So that’s really where that comes from.”

What was Hubert Davis’s recruiting pitch to you when you were being recruited?

Wilson: “He had a pitch, but I knew I was coming here after the Duke game. That was two years ago, we beat them, and I was like, ‘bro, it don’t get no better than this.’ So I knew then that I wanted to beat Duke. And I was in the locker room partying. And then last year we didn’t beat them and I was like, ‘man, I need to get that done.’ So that’s what made me come here, honestly. When we beat Duke (in the 2023-24 season), and I saw Franklin Street lit up, and I was able to go out with the team for a second and just kind of get the vibe. I was like, ‘man, I’ve got to come here. I’ve got to win.”