Caleb Wilson is ready to take the spotlight at UNC basketball. First stop: BYU

When Robert Swain introduced Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School head coach Mario Mays to his then-eighth grade client, Caleb Wilson, he didn’t hide his excitement.

“Coach, I’m about to bring you a gift,” Swain told Mays.

“Whatchu mean, Swain?” Mays asked.

“I got a 6-foot-6, however you want to play him — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,” Swain said. “You’re gonna know what to do with him… I’m bringing you a pro.”

Swain, who has trained the now 6-10 Wilson for roughly 10 years, saw the work, yes, but also the potential.

So far, Swain’s been proven right.

On Friday morning, Swain will fly out to Utah to watch Wilson, the five-star and top-10 prospect, face off with projected No. 1 NBA Draft pick AJ Dybantsa as No. 25 North Carolina takes on No. 7 BYU in a preseason exhibition.

Dybantsa impressed with a 30-point, seven-rebound performance in his debut for the Cougars, a 90-89 exhibition loss to Nebraska on Saturday. Cameron Boozer, a fellow top prospect and former AAU teammate of Wilson’s, scored 33 points and logged 12 rebounds in Duke’s exhibition win over UCF on Tuesday. But we’ve yet to see Wilson – and all he can do with his highly-touted athleticism and two-way tools – in action outside of an intrasquad scrimmage.

So what is expected? Take it from the trainer who knows him best. Swain says Wilson’s passing ability, and how he values involving his teammates, separates Wilson from other prospects of his pedigree.

Or, maybe, take it from the man himself.

“I watch a lot of NBA and professional players play,” he said. “But I’ve never seen anyone like me. Really. Honestly.”

‘He’s going to make the right play’

With a player like Wilson — who achieved so much at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in Sandy Springs, Georgia, that he became something of a local cult hero — many folks have a “Caleb story.”

For Mays, the moment came before Wilson had even enrolled at HIES. Wilson’s confidence jumped immediately, especially when the eighth grader told Mays he wanted to be a McDonald’s All-American. The other thing that stood out about Wilson? Well, his height. God, he is tall, Mays remembers thinking to himself.

“I was like, ‘Man, we can get this kid, we can start our program,’” Mays said. “This guy could be the centerpiece for a program. And that’s what actually ended up happening.”

It didn’t take long. Wilson’s feel for the game was evident to Mays, even before his freshman year. That summer before Wilson enrolled at HIES, he competed with the team at a live period camp — the kind of event where all the high schools in the state get under one roof, and college coaches visit to scout as many as two games a day.

Against one team playing a staunch zone defense, Mays devised a simple, yet effective, plan: stick Wilson at the free throw line. He told his players Wilson had to touch the ball as soon as it crossed half court.

Some of Wilson’s teammates, especially the older ones, didn’t take too kindly to this. One veteran was so stubborn — so against this plan — that Mays had to sit him momentarily.

“I’m not saying he (Wilson) has to shoot the ball every time,” Mays instructed him. “But he’s going to make the right play.”

Mays reinserted the doubtful senior back into the game. Make sure Caleb touches the ball, he implored. Sure enough, Wilson soon caught the ball in the middle of the zone defense, reverse pivoted and found that same senior in the corner for a wide-open 3-pointer.

Catch. Splash. Mays called another timeout.

“That’s the reason why,” Mays said.

‘He basically was just unstoppable’

Wilson doesn’t like to be boxed into one position. He recognizes that in today’s game — and especially in Hubert Davis’ system — basketball is positionless.

“I think I pass the ball just like a guard,” Wilson said. “I think I rebound like a four or five, and I think I’m as athletic as a three, two or one… you just play what’s needed.

And basketball, to me, is a sport that’s not predictable.”

Throughout his high school years, Wilson kept adding layers to his game. The 6-foot-8 post player, who HIES athletic director Tony Watkins recalls being “thrown to the wolves” as a freshman, worked to become a better ball handler. Swain drilled him in one-on-one settings — getting under Wilson and guarding him closely — to work on his handles. He showed him when the ball was vulnerable and how to apply the proper footwork.

Wilson also improved his shot. First, from the elbow. Then, toward the end of his high school career, his 3-point ability came along.

“He became a three-level scorer,” Mays said. “And with his size and then being able just to handle the basketball the way he could… he basically was just unstoppable.”

As a senior, Wilson averaged 21.6 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals en route to a 27-4 season and Georgia private school state title. His games that year felt like a front-row ticket to a show, with Wilson starring as the lead. Each dunk sent the “bear den” fan section into chaos, students toppling over in the stands in amusement. Spectators flocked from across the metro area to see the kid everyone was talking about. College coaches. Recruiters. Jason Rutledge, the HIES Upper School Principal, even recalled seeing a few Atlanta Hawks in attendance.

And Wilson delivered.

“His senior year, we’re playing Lovett (High School) — and this is a true story,” begins HIES athletic director Tony Watkins, recounting the memory with a nostalgic tone a bit ironic for a contest that happened, well, in February.

As he remembers it, Watkins asked the opposing coach, out of curiosity: what was his plan to defend Caleb? The answer — we’re going to make him a jump shooter — now seems a bit ill-fated.

Wilson scored a career-best 43 points, including six threes, on 16-of-25 shooting. He tacked on 16 rebounds and four assists for good measure.

“Knowing that he was an ambassador of our school and that he is a role model to all these little kids coming to watch him play, I think that he embraced that,” Watkins said. “That is a role that he thrives in, he relishes in it. And I’m glad that I got to experience (it).”

‘They had no answer’

The rim moved. It had to, right?

Wilson talked all preseason — perhaps jokingly, perhaps not — about how excited he was to dunk on someone. Finally, in the team’s Blue-White scrimmage on Oct. 4, he had his chance. Stealing the ball from fellow newcomer Luka Bogovac, Wilson pushed the pace, rose up and…

CLANG!

A groan arose from the court as Wilson’s two-handed dunk attempt hit the rim and bounced to the floor.

“This might seem crazy, but like, if I miss a shot, I feel like, in my head I’ll be like, ‘Bro, the rim moved,’” Wilson told the assorted media members afterward. “That’s what goes on in my head. Because I feel like you can never really have that much confidence that you need to have if you’re always worried about what happened in the past.”

Sure enough, on the next trip down the court, Wilson converted a three-point play. He then settled into some mid-range shots before teammate Henri Veesaar told him, “Hey, we need to drive the paint if you want to win this game.”

“And then turned it on in the second half,” Veesaar said. “He started driving the paint and they had nothing to say. Like they had no answer.”

Wilson would tell you that poise is a product of his work. Wilson, who used to train with Swain six days a week before school — and twice a day on weekends, sleeping in the gym between the 5:30 a.m. session and the 8 a.m. session — said he’s never worked as hard as he did this summer.

Translation? 10 p.m. solo sessions. Morning workouts with fellow freshman Derek Dixon before orientation. Up to three sessions a day. Wilson’s been running more, but stretching too (something he admits he skipped in high school). Swain said he’s added 10 to 12 pounds.

“Came home from summer school and didn’t take a break,” Swain said. “Every day was the Super Bowl for him.”

And yes — the rim moved. After the scrimmage, a local photographer offered to show Wilson the freeze-frame shots to prove it. Ducking into the media room, Wilson towered over the desk as the photos proved his theory: the rim had indeed bowed under the force of his throw-down.

Another media member cut in, asking what had happened. Had Wilson dunked on someone?

Ever the entertainer, the freshman replied: “Shoot…they don’t wanna jump with me anymore!”

Aristotle and Stoicism

When he’s not building Legos, gaming, catching a quick 30-minute nap — or, of course, hooping — you might find Wilson diving into the philosophy of Stoicism. The freshman said he reads a quote from the book “The Daily Stoic” every morning before he leaves his dorm.

A senior year history class — Wilson’s favorite subject — piqued the interest of the young phenom.

“I learned about Aristotle and just how to approach your day — like how you can’t control what other people think, or you can’t control other people’s actions,” Wilson said. “It really influenced me. And then I got more into it.”

For all his youth, Wilson approaches basketball with a rather uncommon maturity. That mindset — not the athleticism, skill, or height — is what Rutledge said separates Wilson.

Rutledge, who led several sports psychology sessions with the HIES basketball team during Wilson’s senior year, recalled him being “completely engaged.” Rutledge reminded Wilson he didn’t have to do everything on the court. But, by the same token, it was his responsibility to lead the team.

“He’s not the kid that runs away from that pressure… that’s what I appreciate about him, is that he can self-reflect about what he does well, what he needs to improve on,” Rutledge added, “and then he will work on it and model that and play for his teammates. He’s an unselfish teammate and an unselfish leader.”

Ask coach Davis or Wilson’s teammates, and they’ll tell you the same approach has carried over to Chapel Hill. Everything Wilson talks about “is about the team” the head coach said, describing his mentality as rare for a player of his pedigree.

“It’s for me to describe from the standpoint of just what a great person, a great teammate he is,” Davis said. “The way he communicates with me, with his teammates and the coaching staff – I couldn’t ask any more of what Caleb already has brought to this team.”

Wilson’s willing to hype up the crowd before an on-campus Ludacris concert, but prides himself on being approachable — for his teammates and anyone else he meets. Davis has said that, if Wilson ran for student body president, he might win.

The charm — the Magic Johnson-type personality Rutledge and Watkins remember from HIES — shows up daily in Chapel Hill. Dixon, the fellow freshman, said it’s been “really good to get to know” Wilson — the player, but also the personality. Virginia Tech transfer Jaydon Young said you can count on Wilson to crack a joke at practice “almost every day.” Kyan Evans, the Colorado State transfer, added that Wilson won’t hesitate to “yell at you if he dunks on you.”

“As a leader, as a freshman, I talk all the time,” Wilson said. “I talk constantly. I walk in the locker room, make sure I speak to everybody. I just feel like, I just try to incorporate everybody in everything… I’m gonna play as hard as I can and try to lead with action before I lead with my voice.”

‘I’ve did some crazy stuff’

To be clear, in case it wasn’t obvious already, Wilson didn’t have any nerves when he took the floor for UNC’s intrasquad scrimmage — his first time playing in front of the Dean Dome crowd.

“I’ve did some crazy stuff in front of a lot of people.” Wilson reasoned with a laugh.

Just as he finished that sentence, he was interrupted. Teammates Seth Trimble and Zayden High walked by in the hallway, calling out in mock sing-song voice, “Oh my gosh! Caleb! Caleb! It’s Caleb Wilson!”

By this point, Wilson’s used to the attention. Aside from the theatrics of his high school games, he became the first high schooler to announce his commitment on Inside the NBA — a spectacle complete with a crowd of roughly 30 family members and friends and loads of blue and white confetti. He played in the McDonald’s All-American game and the Jordan Brand Classic, where he led Team Air to a win with 28 points. Wilson has a multimillion-dollar deal with New Balance and is signed to Rich Paul’s KLUTCH Sports Group.

That’s not to say Wilson’s cocky, but rather quite comfortable, with the spotlight. Whether he’s chatting with fans, teammates, or reporters, Wilson makes eye contact and answers questions with a nonchalant poise. He slips in humor without forcing it. When internet personality Connor Printz approached him with a microphone and camera earlier this fall, Wilson was ready.

“I don’t like Duke,” Wilson told Printz in the now-viral video. “I don’t like N.C. State. I don’t like Wake Forest. This year, we putting belt on everybody.”

“Everybody” begins with BYU on Friday in Provo. The hype is real: a preseason All-ACC second-team pick, rave reviews from teammates, coaches, scouts and pro projections already pouring in. The spotlight Friday will likely center on Dybantsa, a projected No. 1 pick, but Wilson has plenty to prove too.

So what can you expect? Confidence, poise, and a team-first mentality honed over years of work, countless hours with Swain and Mays, and a high school career full of spectacle.

You can expect Wilson to do what he does best — meet the moment in his own, unique way. And Wilson, like Swain all those years ago, isn’t hiding his excitement.

“I’m here to make myself a legend and win a bunch of games,” Wilson said. “I didn’t commit to Carolina to go to karaoke nights. I came here to be a great basketball player.”

This story was originally published October 23, 2025 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Caleb Wilson is ready to take the spotlight at UNC basketball. First stop: BYU."