On this episode of the Tar Heels Insider podcast, beat writer Grant Chachere discusses what makes Caleb Wilson so intriguing in this year’s North Carolina basketball team.
Here is a partial transcript of Wilson’s press conference from Oct. 9:
A lot of people seem to overlook your passing ability. What do you think leads you to be such a willing distributor?
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?
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?
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?
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.
