With Caleb Wilson as Star Freshman, UNC Basketball Revisiting Wild Times
By David Glenn
It’s always exciting when a true freshman quickly proves himself as an elite college player, especially at a prominent program such as North Carolina.
At the same time, it’s often scary when that prominent program has to ask that star freshman to lead the way.
In the illustrious history of UNC basketball, only four freshmen have led the Tar Heels in scoring for the season. Three of those four campaigns proved to be extremely rocky roads (see below), and two of them rank among the worst the program has ever experienced.
However, one of those freshman-led seasons (after several rough patches) ended in the Final Four, and another laid the foundation for a national championship three years later.
UNC Freshmen Who Led Team In Scoring (Full Season)
| Freshman Season | Player | Head Coach | End-Of-Season Details |
| 2019-20 | PG Cole Anthony (18.5 ppg) | Roy Williams | 14-19 (6-14/13th in ACC), no postseason; Williams retired one year later |
| 2005-06 | F Tyler Hansbrough (18.9 ppg) | Roy Williams | 23-8 (12-4/2nd in ACC), NCAA Round of 32; 2006 freshmen won NCAA title in 2009 |
| 2002-03 | G Rashad McCants (17 ppg) | Matt Doherty | 19-16 (6-10/7th in ACC), NIT; Doherty resigned at end of season |
| 1999-00 | G Joseph Forte (16.7 ppg) | Bill Guthridge | 22-14 (9-7/4th in ACC); NCAA Final Four; Guthridge retired at end of season |
Although the 2025-26 Tar Heels have played only four games (Blue-White scrimmage, two exhibitions, season opener), and only their 94-54 victory over Central Arkansas on Monday night counted in the standings, it’s not difficult to see that freshman forward Caleb Wilson is their best player.
A 6-foot-10, 215-pound forward, Wilson became a consensus prep All-American during his senior season at Holy Innocents Episcopal School in Atlanta. Also a Dean’s List student with a 3.8 grade-point average, he signed with Carolina over Kentucky, Ohio State and Tennessee.
During Wilson’s sensational regular-season debut (25 minutes, 22 points, 8-10 field goals, 5-6 free throws, 1-1 3-pointers, four rebounds, three assists, one block, one steal), which included several early above-the-rim, pogo-stick-style dunks (seven for the game), a former star UNC forward, John Henson (All-ACC in 2011 and 2012), was among the many watching in amazement.
“I don’t think there has been a better 4-minute freshman debut in the history of UNC than Caleb Wilson — wow,” Henson wrote on his Twitter/X account.
“Whether it’s an offensive rebound, post out of bounds, underneath, in transition, he’s looking to take the rim down, and he’s always been that way,” fifth-year UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “It’s one of the things that we always emphasize, is putting pressure on the rim, living in the paint, living in the free throw line and dominating points in the paint. And he’s got the length and athleticism to be able to get there.”
UNC’s most recent freshman-led team, in 2019-20, was a disaster. The program’s legendary coach, Roy Williams, retired a year later.
The Tar Heels’ star freshman point guard that year, Cole Anthony, missed about a third of the season with a knee problem, and there wasn’t much high-end talent around him. Anthony’s 18.5 points per game were the second-most ever for a Carolina rookie, he made the All-ACC squad (third team), and he became the #15 overall NBA draft pick that summer, after only a single season in Chapel Hill, but the Heels finished 14-19 and tied for last in the conference.
On this year’s Carolina squad, Wilson — a projected 2026 NBA lottery pick — appears to have a more reliable supporting cast.
Guard Seth Trimble, one of only three ACC scholarship players who is in his fourth year at the same school, is incredibly athletic, experienced and versatile. Center Henri Veesaar, a 7-foot, 225-pound Arizona transfer, opened his UNC career with a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds). Another newcomer, 22-year-old Montenegrin guard Luka Bogavac, has years of high-level professional experience.
“Luka is my guy,” Wilson said. “We like to hang around each other. We go to dinner sometimes.”
Wilson’s attitude, demeanor and personality also bode well for the Tar Heels. He turned 19 years old over the summer, and he acts and sounds far more mature than most college freshmen.
“He’s a kid that is really hungry to learn,” Davis said. “He’s not somebody that thinks he’s got it all or knows everything. He’s always asking questions, and to have that from somebody as good as him is pretty rare.”
“It’s not going to be easy all season,” Wilson said after UNC’s victory over Central Arkansas. “I know that somebody is going to throw something different at me; it’s only a matter of time. I know conference play is extremely difficult, and that’s what matters, so I’m trying to focus on fine-tuning everything that can be a problem for me later on, whether it’s physicality or just simple things that I know can kind of hinder me.”
It’s probably not mere coincidence that, on two other freshman-led UNC teams, the season tended to track in the direction of that star freshman’s work ethic and personality.
During the 2002-03 campaign, UNC’s leading scorer was freshman guard Rashad McCants, and the team’s coach was an inexperienced Matt Doherty. It is not even a slight exaggeration to say that McCants was one of the most erratic, volatile, unpredictable and unreliable personalities in Carolina basketball history; to this day, because of some of McCants’ absurd public comments about his time in Chapel Hill, there are former Tar Heels who refuse to speak with him.
Just a few years later, during the 2005-06 season, UNC’s leading scorer was freshman forward Tyler Hansbrough, and the team’s coach was Williams, an extremely experienced legend. Hansbrough was one of the hardest-working, lowest-maintenance, absolutely relentless players in Carolina basketball history. When that season teetered on the brink of disaster — the Tar Heels were only 11-5 and 3-3 in the ACC in late January — the Heels rallied to win 10 of their final 11 regular-season games, placed second in the ACC, made the NCAA Tournament and finished with a #10 national ranking.
Like the 2005-06 Tar Heels, this year’s UNC team appears to have a solid foundation, not an overwhelming one.
When Michael Jordan was a Carolina freshman in 1981-82, remember, he finished as Carolina’s third-leading scorer, behind junior forward James Worthy and sophomore center Sam Perkins, a pair of college All-Americans and future NBA standouts. Led by legendary coach Dean Smith, that team won the national championship.
The 2025-26 Tar Heels are just getting started, and while they lack that level of high-end talent, one thing they already know is that they have a very special freshman in Wilson, someone who seems and sounds willing to embrace the exciting but unpredictable journey ahead.
“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. “It’s going to take time. It’s going to take chemistry for us to become (an) elite team, (an) elite program.”
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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