Wilson’s Absence Generates Flashbacks To Other Infamous Late-Season Injuries
By David Glenn
North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson already has put together one of the most sensational freshman seasons in the program’s long and illustrious history.
If Wilson can sustain his 19.8 points per game, he will surpass legendary forward Tyler Hansbrough (18.9 ppg in 2006) and claim Carolina’s highest freshman scoring average ever. If Wilson can slightly improve his 9.4 rebounds per game, he will surpass legendary forward Antawn Jamison (9.6 rpg in 1996) and claim UNC’s highest freshman rebounding average of all time.
Unfortunately for the Tar Heels, Wilson also is now front and center in a much less desirable category: Infamous Late-Season Injuries To Star Players.
In 1984, UNC freshman point guard Kenny Smith suffered a broken wrist late in the regular season, and a #1-ranked Dean Smith team ultimately fell short of its loftiest goals.
In 2012, UNC sophomore point guard Kendall Marshall suffered a broken wrist during the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament, and a #4-ranked Roy Williams team — without Marshall — was eliminated two games later, in the Elite Eight.
In 2019, Duke freshman forward Zion Williamson suffered a significant knee sprain late in the regular season, and a #1-ranked Mike Krzyzewski team ultimately fell short of its ultimate goal.
Now, here in 2026, fifth-year UNC coach Hubert Davis will have to navigate at least the short-term future without Wilson, who suffered a fracture to his left (non-shooting) hand during the #11 Tar Heels’ loss at Miami on Feb. 10.
A silver lining for Carolina is that, unlike with Marshall’s season-ending calamity in 2012, Wilson will return to the Tar Heels at some point this season, just as Smith ultimately did return to the 1984 Heels and Williamson to the 2019 Blue Devils.
“Caleb, he is great,” Davis said on his radio show Monday night. “I think if I said, ‘OK,’ I think he would play with his cast on, or his splint. I think he would. He’s just champing at the bit to come back, because obviously he loves to play, but he loves his teammates and loves playing here.
“He’ll be back on the floor soon, so that’ll be great.”
UNC also hopes that Wilson — whenever he returns — will be at or near full strength, just as Williamson was for Duke down the stretch seven years ago.
Photo via Todd Melet
The National Player of the Year, Williamson did miss the final five games of Duke’s regular season, but he then was brilliant during March Madness. He earned the Most Valuable Player honor as the Blue Devils captured the ACC Tournament, and he also played very well in the NCAA Tournament, including the Devils’ season-ending Elite Eight loss to Michigan State.
UNC’s infamous 1984 injury tale is an even more painful one, just as a broken wrist is typically a more extreme injury than a sprained knee or a fractured hand.
Smith’s broken left wrist occurred on a dirty play by LSU’s John Tudor during UNC’s victory over the Tigers in late January.
With Smith leading the way at point guard, the Tar Heels were 17-0 and ranked #1 nationally. During Smith’s nine-game injury absence, the Heels went 8-1 and maintained their spot atop the polls.
After Smith’s return on March 3, though, Carolina went just 3-2, falling in the ACC Tournament semifinals and the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16. Ultimately, the 1984 Tar Heels (28-3) lost more games in March (two) than they had lost over the previous three-plus months combined (one).
All things considered, UNC’s current predicament is not a perfect match for any of the above-mentioned examples, although it’s probably most similar to the one Duke faced in 2019.
In 1984, remember, Smith — while an extremely talented and impactful freshman — was definitely not Carolina’s best player. Junior guard Michael Jordan and senior center Sam Perkins were both consensus first-team All-Americans on that star-studded UNC squad.
Similarly, in 2012, Marshall was not UNC’s best player. Three of his teammates, swingman Harrison Barnes, forward John Henson and center Tyler Zeller, earned first-team All-ACC recognition that year. Marshall made the second team.
Like Williamson, Wilson is clearly his team’s best player, a virtual lock for first-team All-ACC and consensus All-America accolades.
Unlike Duke in 2019, though, the 2026 Tar Heels haven’t been ranked in the national top 10 all season, and they don’t have quite as much talent in their supporting cast. Williamson’s teammates included six other future NBA players, including fellow freshmen RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones.
In Wilson’s absence, this year’s Tar Heels will have to lean heavily on junior center Henri Veesaar (another All-ACC lock), steady senior guard Seth Trimble and a much less predictable cast of role players.
The short-term question for Carolina is whether that group will be able to successfully manage the remainder of its February schedule: at Syracuse on Saturday, then home against Louisville (Feb. 23) and Virginia Tech (Feb. 28). Each of those foes is much better than the Pitt squad the Heels defeated Saturday.
The educated guess is that, like Smith and Williamson, Wilson will be able to return for the all-important month of March. In his case, that reboot could occur via one last game at the Smith Center (March 3 vs. Clemson), Round Two of the Duke-Carolina rivalry (March 7 in Durham) or the ACC Tournament in Charlotte.
Might Wilson be able to cap his record-setting rookie campaign in some sort of magical fashion? We’ll see…
In the meantime, as others debate the fundamentally unpredictable nature of this UNC team’s ultimate fate, Davis much prefers to talk about those things he already knows to be true.
“You will not have a better player, person and teammate than Caleb,” Davis said. “It’s just impossible. There’s just no way you can do it. What a great example of, when things weren’t particularly going his way, in regards to his hand, he’s still a great teammate.”
David Glenn (DavidGlennShow.com, @DavidGlennShow) is an award-winning author, broadcaster, editor, entrepreneur, publisher, speaker, writer and university lecturer (now at UNC Wilmington) who has covered sports in North Carolina since 1987.
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