CHAPEL HILL — Caleb Wilson sees everything, reads everything and saves everything for motivation.
Following No. 25 UNC basketball’s 87-74 win against No. 19 Kansas on Nov. 7 at the Smith Center, the Tar Heels’ star freshman provided insight on what drives him to bring his best on game days. “I think it sets an aggressive tone like, we’re here. Me personally, I feel like I’ve been disrespected in polls and things like that,” said Wilson, the first Tar Heel ever to score more than 20 points in his first two games.
“People telling me I’m not a top-three freshmen in the ACC, so I’m just gonna keep going out here and (crushing) people. I got a list on my phone and it’s nowhere near done, so just gonna keep happening for sure.” The 6-foot-10 forward, had 24 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals against fellow freshman star Darryn Peterson and the Jayhawks. So what is his source of motivation?
“I put stuff on my wallpaper before I play to make sure I’m pissed,” Wilson said. His wallpaper ahead of the Kansas game was a reminder of his feeling after the McDonald’s All-American game. Wilson “didn’t touch the ball” in that showcase and was on the same team as Peterson.
Throw in the fact that UNC hadn’t beaten Kansas in 23 years and that’s all Wilson needed to get him going in front of a crowd of nearly 22,000 people.
“It was personal for me. … We hadn’t beaten them in 20 years,” Wilson said. “I wasn’t even born. … I want to impress my coach, I want to impress the world. I want to let the world know who I am for sure.”
With ESPN televising the game, Wilson let the world know with what he did against Kansas, starting things off with a putback dunk in the opening minute before putting an exclamation point on his performance with a steal and open-court dunk in the final minute. “I mean, we see it every day, so it’s not as crazy to us. But I mean, for him to come out and perform like that – just a young dude like he is – is special,” said UNC guard Kyan Evans.
Evans went on to say how “extremely serious” Wilson is about getting better. The rookie also led UNC in the plus-minus stat with a mark of plus-21 against the Jayhawks.“I haven’t seen him, as a young guy, just kind of fade away,” Evans said. “He doesn’t do that. He’s just always locked in. That’s what makes him who he is.”
Wilson scored all over the floor, mixing in turnaround jumpers to show off more of his offensive arsenal. He made his last five shots against Kansas, but arguably his most impressive stretch came when UNC was trailing in the first half.
Self said you could make a case for other Tar Heels, but Wilson was “probably the best player in the game.” Whether he was scoring or doing things that didn’t show up in the box score, it certainly looked that way for most of the night.
There was a stretch in which Wilson was diving all over the floor for loose balls and, with just under 8 minutes left until halftime, he was at the point of attack in UNC’s full-court press defense. His ball pressure led to a 10-second violation, which prompted him to flex, scream and rile up the rowdy crowd with his passion.
