North Carolina star forward Caleb Wilson needs surgery and will miss the rest of the season after breaking his right thumb during a non-contact drill in practice Thursday, the program announced Friday, specifying the freshman sustained the injury while dunking.
Wilson, a top NBA Draft prospect, hadn’t played since Feb. 10, when he suffered a fracture in his left hand during the first half of a loss to Miami.
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He had missed the Tar Heels’ past six games in which UNC went 5-1 to improve to 24-6, including 12-5 in ACC play to clinch a double bye in the conference tournament.
Now No. 17 in the country, UNC will face top-ranked and ACC regular-season champion Duke in a rematch of the rivals’ Feb. 7 thriller.
While Seth Trimble hit the game-winner that night, Wilson scored 17 of the Tar Heels’ 29 first-half points. He’s also the team’s leading scorer and rebounder with 19.8 points and 9.4 boards per game.
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In mid-February, about a week after Wilson suffered his left-hand injury, UNC head coach Hubert Davis said on his semi-weekly radio show the 6-foot-10 Wilson was already on track to return to the floor “soon.” At the time, Wilson had been learning to play with a cast on his non-shooting hand.
He was cleared for individual workouts late last week, according to UNC’s Friday release, but his comeback was derailed by his practice injury.
Wilson is a former five-star prospect who was the No. 5 overall recruit in last year’s class, according to Rivals. He hit the ground running at UNC, posting a 57.8% field-goal percentage and making his presence known on defense, too, averaging 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per game.
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He started his collegiate career by scoring in double figures in each of his 24 games — no Tar Heels freshman had done that before — and his 17 20-point games are a freshman program record as well.
The Atlanta native earned National Player of the Week honors twice and became the ACC Freshman of the Week three times.
Along with Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa and Duke’s Cameron Boozer, Wilson is expected to be a top-four pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
UNC’s odds to win the national title have now dropped from 80-1 to 150-1, according to BetMGM.