By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — With one slam dunk after another in his college debut, Caleb Wilson announced his presence with dazzling authority and impressed fans. In the group that wasn’t all that impressed was Wilson.
The freshman forward’s first night in Carolina blue had all the fireworks — 22 points, seven dunks, four rebounds, three assists and a steal — and none of the theatrics that typically follow them.
In No. 11 North Carolina’s 94–54 win Monday at the Smith Center, Wilson’s highlights came rapid‑fire; his reactions never did. He might glance at the defender he just dunked on, but he quickly gets back on defense — an area of his game that’s a point of pride.
Asked about the rush from hammering home four dunks in the opening minutes, he shrugged it off with the kind of perspective usually earned over seasons, not minutes.
“Dunks are two points,” he said, expanding on that unflashy creed. “I never get too high on myself.”
Wilson’s approach has been shaped, he said, by an internal bar that keeps rising.
“It makes me hungry,” Wilson said. “It doesn’t matter what I do. I always feel like I can be better.”
So even when the fans are jumping out of their seats in excitement, he stays grounded.
“I’m still gonna play the game the same way [and] play great defense,” he said
That’s why you won’t catch him lingering or mugging for the cameras.
“I’m a freshman, so I’m trying to adjust,” he said, noting that momentum can flip in a possession. But he notes that, in the end, “I just play.”
Wilson’s dunks were the bold font, but the italics of the night were Carolina’s shared purpose — quick decisions, willing passes, and a rhythm that made everything look easy. Wilson pointed those out that when the conversation turned from highlights to habits.
Asked about the half-court flow, he smiled as he recalled hearing skepticism when this group of many newcomers first assembled.
“Once we learn how to play [with] each other and learn how to get the ball to each other in places that we need to, it’ll be great,” Wilson said.
For Wilson, that chemistry isn’t abstract. It lives in the little connections that stack advantages: a screen at the right angle, a pass on time and on target, a teammate’s sudden availability.
He spoke warmly about junior Montenegrin wing Luka Bogavac, who had been cleared to make his college debut just before the game.
“Luka is my guy,” Wilson said. “We like to hang around each other. We go to dinner sometimes.”
The learning curve shows up in minor miscues, too. Wilson owned one in transition, when a lob turned into a contested finish because he and Seth Trimble drifted into the same lane, and the result was a turnover instead of an easy basket.
“I should just let him have it, because I was inside,” Wilson said. “Was just a mistake, just communication, for sure.”
That blend of accountability and adaptability is how he’s preparing for tougher challenges ahead, starting with the 7 p.m. home game against No. 17 Kansas on Friday (ESPN).
“It’s not gonna be easy all season,” he said. “Somebody’s going to throw something different at me.”
He’s already thinking through the tweaks even before the opponent adjustments come.
“I’ll have to adjust my game,” he said, emphasizing the day-to-day, strength through details and timing with reps. “I’m trying to focus on fine-tuning of everything, dealing with physicality or just simple things that I know can kind of hinder me.”
And if opponents load up to take away the rim? He’s not panicking.
“For sure, I have the skill set to do whatever I want,” Wilson said. “I’m not really worried about it.”
The dunks, after all, are a means, not an identity.
“It’s a high-percentage shot,” he conceded with a grin, “but the point is to make the right choice, not just the loud one.”
Friday brings a marquee stage against Kansas and freshman sensation Darryn Peterson. With it comes outside noise that alters a young player’s focus. Wilson waved that off, too.
“Just the best we can be,” he said of what he hopes to see. “I don’t look forward to matchups. I approach the game the same way as [I] approach [Monday]. More people in the stands and more outside noise, but noise doesn’t matter.”
It’s not that he’s unaware of the lights; it’s that he refuses to let them blind his routines. He framed the season’s arc with the same patience.
“It’s going to take time,” he said. “It’s going to take chemistry for us to become [an] elite team, [an] elite program.”
For a debut this dazzling, that’s exactly the approach coaches love to hear.
There will be games this season when the dunks are scarcer and the angles tighter. There will be scouts asking questions and defenders testing different limits. Wilson knows that and is already studying for the exam. The part he seems most committed to won’t make a highlight reel: the habit of staying level and hungry but never hurried.
On a night when he could have turned up the volume on himself, he kept the focus on the group, on the passes that got him airborne and the talk that keeps five players cohesive.
The numbers say he dominated. His comments show that he intends to keep it in perspective.
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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