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UNC men’s basketball star Caleb Wilson fractured his hand and has no timetable to return.
The UNC Tar Heels just absorbed the kind of February gut punch that can flip the college basketball landscape. Caleb Wilson, the Tar Heels’ star freshman forward and leading scorer, is out with a fracture in his left hand with no timetable for return, according to multiple sources. For a team sitting 19–5 and trying to climb out of seventh place in the ACC, this is brutal timing on every level.
North Carolina Men’s College Basketball: Caleb Wilson Suffers Fractured Left Hand
North Carolina revealed that Wilson suffered the injury during Tuesday’s 75–66 loss at Miami, when he hurt his left hand in the first half. X-rays taken during the game were negative, and he was able to return in the second half, but further imaging back in Chapel Hill later confirmed the fracture.
According to The Sporting News, at roughly the 15:50 mark of the second half, Wilson went to the bench and gestured toward his left hand while talking with coach Hubert Davis before eventually going back in, clearly not at full strength. Jon Rothstein and other national reporters labeled it “massive” news, and it’s hard to argue considering how much of the Tar Heels’ identity runs through the 6-foot-9 freshman.
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Wilson has been one of the most productive first-year players in the country, averaging 19.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.4 blocks in 31.3 minutes over 24 games this season. He’s shooting 57.8% from the field and 61.0% on two-pointers while getting to the line 7.5 times per game, numbers that show how often he lives in the paint and puts pressure on defenses. Wilson is also pulling down 2.8 offensive boards a night and ranking among the ACC leaders in both scoring and rebounding as a true freshman.
It’s not just the box score. Wilson has been the matchup problem that makes everything else easier for North Carolina’s guards — drawing doubles on the block, cleaning the glass, and switching across multiple positions defensively. ESPN and other outlets have projected him as a potential top-five pick in the 2026 NBA draft, which tells you the level of talent UNC is suddenly trying to replace in mid-February.
What It Means for UNC’s Season
The Tar Heels were already trying to tighten things up after the loss at Miami, and now they have to do it without their best all-around player (at least temporarily), as ACC play hits the stretch run. Without Wilson’s nearly 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, Davis and his staff will need more frontcourt scoring, extra help on the glass, and cleaner offense late in games to avoid empty trips that Wilson usually bails them out of.
For now, the only certainty is uncertainty: UNC hasn’t put a timeline on when Wilson could be back, leaving open everything from a late-season return to the possibility that he’s done until postseason play — or longer.
In a year where North Carolina looked like it had a freshman star capable of carrying it deep into March, the Tar Heels are suddenly in scramble mode, trying to figure out how to keep their ceiling from fracturing right along with Wilson’s hand.
Justin Carlucci brings 13+ years of journalism experience to Heavy. A veteran of multiple industry-leading companies, he has hosted SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio shows and contributed to the New York Post, combining traditional sports and news reporting with expertise in sports betting and fantasy sports. More about Justin Carlucci
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