A large part of the UNC basketball team’s early success is tied to star freshman Caleb Wilson, who is averaging nearly a double-double through the first seven games of his collegiate career.
Entering Tuesday’s highly-anticipated, ACC-SEC Challenge clash with Kentucky, Wilson averages 19.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. Wilson tallied four consecutive double-doubles entering last Thursday’s loss against Michigan State, but the Spartans neutralized him in a cold second half.
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Speaking of Kentucky, another team which features talented freshman, Wilson nearly played in Lexington. Back in January, Wilson chose Hubert Davis’ Tar Heels over Mark Pope’s Wildcats.
This was a major recruiting victory for North Carolina, which lost out on the likes of Jasper Johnson, a fellow 5-star and Malachi Moreno, a 7-foot center.
When Wilson and his UNC teammates take the court Tuesday night, they’ll face off against Johnson and Moreno. The Tar Heels were a finalist for Johnson in his recruiting cycle, while Moreno strongly considered coming to Chapel Hill.
Johnson is one of Kentucky’s top reserves, leading his team with 3.6 assists per game, while adding 7.7 points and 18.9 minutes per game.
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Moreno is the Wildcats’ starting center, averaging 10.6 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game. Moreno notched a double-double himself in Kentucky’s 50-point blowout of Tennessee Tech Wednesday night, while Johnson played 21 minutes off the bench.
How will Big Blue Nation greet Wilson? Will North Carolina’s star out-perform his fellow 2025 classmates, or will the Wildcats’ freshman duo prevail?
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: Jasper Johnson, Malachi Moreno nearly joined Caleb Wilson at UNC
