Caleb Wilson was incredible on the court Friday in North Carolina’s 87-74 win over Kansas. Then, when it was over, he was also awesome with the media.
You want good postgame quotes?
Wilson delivered!
“It was personal for me,” Wilson said after finishing with 24 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in a performance that reinforced the idea that we really might be watching the best freshman class in college basketball history. “We hadn’t beat [Kansas] in 20 years — and they beat us in the national championship [game in 2022], and [UNC] coach [Hubert Davis] was emotional about that. So I wanted to impress my coach, and I wanted to impress the world. I wanted to let the world know who I am for sure.”
Who he is, it seems, is a 6-foot-10 forward who is just as impressive on a microphone as he is on a court — and he saved his sharpest shot for Darryn Peterson, the Jayhawks’ freshman guard who is most people’s projected favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. As Wilson explained to the assembled media at the Dean E. Smith Center, he’s constantly changing the wallpaper on his phone to things he believes will motivate him. Asked what his wallpaper was heading into the matchup with Kansas, Wilson didn’t hesitate to answer.
“My wallpaper today was my feeling after the McDonald’s All-American Game, when I didn’t touch the ball,” Wilson said. “And Darryn Peterson was on my team. So that was my wallpaper.”
Excellent work.
North Carolina is up to No. 21 in Saturday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where St. John’s remains No. 1. Kansas is down to No. 22. Those developments caused both Tennessee and Auburn to be pushed down one spot each in these rankings, no fault of their own.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
3
North Carolina
7
Kansas
