Caleb Wilson made it known what type of time he was on all the way back in the first week of September. Swarmed by students on the quad while making his way to UNC’s football game against TCU, a camera caught his attention, prompting him to offer a few words for fans to hold onto before the basketball season. The highly touted freshman and No. 5 player in the Class of 2025 didn’t hold back. Not one bit.
“I’m going to tell you how I feel right now. I don’t like Duke. I don’t like NC State. I don’t like Wake Forest. This year, we’re putting the belt on everybody. I’m talking about real belt. Sparkle, bedazzled,” Caleb said.
At first, the words were shrugged off. Chalked up to just talk. But for those in Chapel Hill who had seen what he was doing in practice, in runs against the alumni who had hung the banners that waved above, they knew Caleb Wilson was speaking the truth. And after dropping a 24-piece in a win over No. 19 Kansas and kicking off the year 5-0 as the No. 18-ranked program in the nation, everyone outside of Chapel Hill is starting to listen real closely to what Caleb Wilson has got to say.
“Honestly, like, people were saying we weren’t UNC no more. Like we’re not a blue-blood program anymore because we’ve had rough years. I just wanna send [a message] like, we’re back,” Caleb says. “We’re a great team and we’re a great family.”
The freshman is fully bought into all walks of North Carolina pride. Hearing the Marching Tar Heels play before games. Strolling down Franklin Street, chopping it up with fellow students. He hits up the AG dining hall with his guys, Ben and Cohen, almost every night, religiously sticking to chicken tenders and fries with barbecue sauce. He even pulled up to that Kansas game with his braids drawn back in the Argyle pattern. When he needs to clear his head, he goes to the very last row of section 218, gazing down onto an empty Roy Williams court. And he loves adding new traditions at one of the most storied programs in college basketball, like the now-famous sparkle bedazzled belt that was wrapped around his arms throughout his SLAMU cover shoot.
Jared ebanks 