UNC’s Caleb Wilson takes a page from Michael Jordan in stellar freshman season: ‘It became personal’

North Carolina freshman forward Caleb Wilson has a list of about 30 names, including college freshmen he believes got the nod over him in high school and coaches who slighted him in recruiting or with USA Basketball.

It’s likely that Duke’s men’s basketball coach Jon Scheyer and heralded freshman twins, Cameron and Cayden Boozer, respectfully, are on that list.

Wilson chose North Carolina after considering scholarship offers from Kentucky and Ohio State. As for storied Duke, Wilson said that during his recruitment they “stopped talking to me.”

Expect Wilson to flip the motivational switch that has fueled him for years when the Duke-North Carolina rivalry commences in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on Saturday (ESPN, 6 p.m. ET).

“Duke offered me and they just stopped talking to me,” Wilson told Andscape. “You know how coaches keep in contact with you? They never kept it going. And then, funny backstory, my guy Acaden Lewis who plays for Villanova — he’s a really good player, too; that’s my guy — he went on to visit Duke. I never visited and I have never been to Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“And I asked him how his Duke visit was. [Lewis] told me that the Duke coaches just didn’t think I was going to be a good player or a good fit for their program. He told me that and that sticks with me to this day. You think about all the other guys recruited over me, all the other guys you recruited. When I play you, that’s [what I will remember] going into the game.”

When reached by Andscape, a Duke men’s basketball spokesman declined to comment.

As for Wilson, the Atlanta native’s elite athleticism, wide range of skills and motor have garnered the interest of NBA teams. He is widely considered a top 5 prospect for the highly anticipated 2026 NBA draft. The 6-foot-10, 215-pounder averages 20 points on a 58.1% field goal percentage, 9.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game, and has scored at least 20 points in six of the past seven contests.

Before his freshman season, Wilson said he wrote down a list of goals, among them making first-team All-America and winning games. Inspired by former Tar Heels great Michael Jordan and the late Kobe Bryant’s competitive fire, Wilson is also motivated by what he perceives to be less hype than other top freshmen in college basketball.

“I know the coaches I’m playing against. I know the coaches who told me I wasn’t good enough to play on [Team] USA,” Wilson said. “I get a chance to play them this year, and I get to play their players. So, I’m not going to say no names, but I definitely remember. …

“Every time I get an opportunity to play somebody who you thought was better than me or you thought would contribute to your team better, I’m going to take it personal. I’m going to try to beat them.”

Caleb Noah Wilson was born on July 18, 2006, in Atlanta. He said he has felt overlooked since his earliest days of playing youth basketball. Wilson recalls not playing much on teams in the third and fourth grade. He said he was benched “for the entire AAU nationals” while playing for an AAU team in the fifth grade during a tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.

Those slights fueled Wilson to work more on his game.

“I remember leaving Disney and I was crying when I was leaving,” Wilson said. “I didn’t get in the game. So, it’s like all this stuff that’s happened to me now and recently is just added fuel to the fire. But I don’t think I’ll ever lose the need or want to just overcome everything.”

Wilson said his mother, Sabrina, told him he was too nice and he needed “a switch” in competitiveness on the court. Wilson maintains the nice-guy approach off the court, welcoming autographs and pictures with fans and flashing a Magic Johnson-esque smile.

But on the court, he was inspired to flip that switch not only by his mother but by watching Jordan in the award-winning ESPN docuseries “The Last Dance” in 2020. The Jordan quote in “The Last Dance” that Wilson now lives by is, “And I took that personally.”

Wilson said he also wears the No. 8 to honor Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers great, who was known for his “Mamba Mentality,” and that the “smallest thing” pushes him to “play better.”

“Every time something would happen to me, I would just think it became personal,” Wilson said. “You’re telling me I’m not good enough? You’re telling me I can’t fit your standard? You’re telling me I’m not good enough to be on your team?.”

Wilson was a five-star recruit while playing at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in Atlanta. But even that accolade didn’t stop the motivational slights coming his way.

Wilson was honored to take part in the 2023 USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team minicamp in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His play led to him being named a finalist for the 2024 USA Basketball U-19 Men’s Junior National Team with tryouts in Colorado Springs in May of 2024. The coaching staff for that 2024 U-18 National Team was head coach Tommy Lloyd (Arizona) and assistants Grant McCasland (Texas Tech) and Micah Shrewsberry (Notre Dame).

To Wilson’s surprise, he didn’t make that U-18 squad when the roster was announced on May 28, 2025. Being cut was humiliating for Wilson but also brought him renewed drive. He declined an opportunity to try out for USA Basketball’s U-19 team last year.

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Wilson said. “I remember feeling confident going into it. My roommate was [current Kentucky center] Jayden Quaintance and we both got cut the same night. We went into the dorm room, and they said I wasn’t going to make the team. JQ [Quaintance] was right there and they said he wasn’t going to make the team either. Stuff happens to you in your life where you’re like, ‘I’m going to remember this.’ I got cut. I remember that whole night. I walked around with Jayden Quaintance.

‘We walked around the whole USA facility. We were outside playing basketball and just talking. It’s probably one of the biggest heartbreaks I’ve had in my life because of course you want to represent your country. And in high school, I was a five-star. I was one of the top [players] in the country. So, I was thinking I deserved this. But it’s one of the best things that ever happened to me because that was the first chip that got put on my shoulder.”

A motivated Wilson had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists during North Carolina’s 91-69 blowout win over Notre Dame on Jan. 21. In the handshake line afterward, Wilson kindly reminded Shrewsbury about cutting him.

Shrewsbury later told the media on the ACC coaches call, “He [Wilson] was like, ‘Thanks for motivating me.’ “

Wilson says he dreamed about playing in the esteemed Hoop Summit, which annually pits elite American high school seniors against a group of international teen standouts. He actually watched the 2024 Hoop Summit on his phone while attending his junior prom. Wilson was passed over by USA Basketball again, however, as he wasn’t named to the 2025 Hoop Summit roster.

The Boozer twins, Louisville guard Mikel Brown Jr., Notre Dame forward Jalan Haralson and Duke forward Nikolas Khamenia are all Atlantic Coast Conference freshmen who were on USA’s Hoop Summit roster.

“That’s cool. It motivates me ’til this day,” Wilson said. “I feel like you didn’t feel like I was good enough again. So, every time I get a chance to play somebody you thought was better than me or could contribute to your team better than me, I’m going to take it personal.”

ESPN ranked Wilson fifth overall in the Class of 2025 behind A.J. Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Nate Ament, in that order. Wilson was honored to play in the 2025 McDonald’s All-America Game on April 1, 2025, but he was disappointed after being limited to four shots while Dybantsa, Peterson and the World’s Tounde Yessoufou took double-digit shot attempts.

A motivated Wilson responded with a game-high 28 points on 13-of-14 shooting from the field in the Jordan Brand Classic in Washington, D.C., on April 18, 2025, a game that also included the Boozer twins, Dybantsa and Peterson.

“Everybody talks about me not touching the ball at McDonald’s,” Wilson said. “McDonald’s was a big thing for me going up through high school. That’s the goal to be there. It’s funny. After being cut from USA, I was worried about making the McDonald’s game. But then when I made the McDonald’s game, I was excited. We played and practiced for a week. It was a bunch of fun. And I had A.J. and Darryn on my team. Both of them were the top players in the country. And then we got to the game; I didn’t touch the ball.

“It is an All-Star game and I guess everybody’s got to get their shots up. I was just playing for the opportunity to just play good basketball. I was just playing team ball. And after that, I had four points. I took bad shots in that game too because I knew I wasn’t going to get it. I was frustrated. I was mad because you wait all your life to do something and then you get the time to do it, and you don’t get the results that you wanted.”

Wilson said while Peterson, Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer have the spotlight as “The Big 3” among the college freshmen, he has relished the opportunity of playing them this season.

Wilson said his “coming-out party” was logging 22 points and 10 rebounds to Dybantsa’s 18 points and eight rebounds in North Carolina’s 78-76 exhibition loss to BYU in Salt Lake City on Oct. 24.

Wilson had 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals, and Peterson had 22 points, three assists and three steals in North Carolina’s 87-84 win over Kansas on Nov. 7.

Now an excited Wilson has two upcoming “big games” against Boozer and rival Duke.

“I get to play Duke twice. That will be the biggest game probably on television — Feb. 7 and March 7. A month apart,” Wilson said. “It is really why I came to [North Carolina], to play in that game. I took my visit here and saw that game and I said, ‘I can’t miss the opportunity to be on the stage.’ ”

Wilson said he doesn’t spend time comparing himself against Peterson, Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer because “comparison is the thief of joy.” Even so, he “definitely” wants to prove he is worthy of being the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA draft.

“The beautiful thing about it for me is I get to play everybody they say is in the top 3,” Wilson said.

North Carolina’s basketball alumni include Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers Jordan, Vince Carter, James Worthy, Bob McAdoo, Billy Cunningham and Walter Davis. Wilson, however, is making a case to being considered the best freshman in Tar Heels history. He has already set Tar Heels freshman records for the most 20-point games (15), the most consecutive double-digit scoring games (21), and most consecutive 20-plus point games (six).

Wilson, however, says he still needs to improve his on-ball defense, help defense and shooting. In what will likely be his only season with the Tar Heels, his biggest goal is to be viewed as a winner after team success.

“I’ve broken a few records already and done some monumental things, but there is nothing more important than winning,” Wilson said. “And for us to win, I have to play really well. So, I feel like it all comes together. But winning the game is going to be the most important thing. I feel like that’s all that matters. I got to win.

“I can score a hundred points tomorrow and if we lose, nobody will care. I score a hundred points tomorrow and if we lose in the first round of [NCAA] tournament, nobody cares. So, to me it’s just all about winning and making sure I keep the main thing the main thing.”

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