{"id":666711,"date":"2026-03-19T11:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T11:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/666711\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T11:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T11:05:12","slug":"ive-had-the-best-experiences-of-my-life-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/666711\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I’ve Had The Best Experiences Of My Life Here’"},"content":{"rendered":"

GREENVILLE, S.C. \u2014 For the first time since his season-ending injury, Caleb Wilson<\/a> spoke Wednesday afternoon inside the Tar Heels\u2019 NCAA Tournament locker room ahead of UNC\u2019s open practice \u2014 one day after learning his No. 8 jersey will hang in the Smith Center rafters.<\/p>\n

>>>\u00a0FLASH SALE:\u00a0<\/a>Start your Inside Carolina subscription for 75% off!<\/a>\u00a0<<<<\/p>\n

The Atlanta native was named a Second Team All-American by the Associated Press, further cementing his place in Carolina history. Wilson became the first player in program history to lead the Tar Heels in points, rebounds and assists per game (he also led the team in blocks and steals).<\/p>\n

Watch Inside Carolina\u2019s one-on-one Wilson interview \u2014 eight questions with No. 8 \u2014 below and scroll down for the transcript \u2026<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

What was the moment like for you, learning that your jersey was going to be up in the rafters in the Smith Center?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Caleb Wilson: \u201cIt was great. It\u2019s always been one of my goals since I started \u2014 really when I came here. When Coach (Sean) May first came to Atlanta right before I came to Chapel Hill, I told him that one of my goals was to get my jersey in the rafters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing that happen is really big for me, and kind of feels like a real full circle moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

What has this experience been like for you at UNC? Has it lived up to everything you thought it would be?<\/p>\n

Wilson: \u201cYeah, it\u2019s been fun. That was kind of one of the things I also did when I figured out I wouldn\u2019t play again, is to just look back at all the memories I\u2019ve had.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLike playing in that Kansas game, my first big game, and playing in the Duke game, and just all the big games we\u2019ve played. We beat three blue bloods this year, and I\u2019ve been a part of all those games. Really looking back and enjoying the things that I have done, things that people will remember \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been that and more. Honestly, it\u2019s just been a whole bunch of fun, from the basketball aspect to also just hanging out with my friends and just enjoying Franklin Street. So it\u2019s definitely been great. I\u2019ve had the best experiences of my life here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are there any other memories or moments that stand out that aren\u2019t basketball related?<\/p>\n

Wilson: \u201cWatching the intro video when we play, watching that is cool, I\u2019ll probably remember that the rest of my life. I don\u2019t know, just walking down Franklin Street, just enjoying it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I didn\u2019t really do many crazy activities. I just live like a regular person \u2014 just doing simple stuff \u2014 like walking around campus, walking to class, and stuff like that. Like that\u2019ll be stuff I always remember, just interactions I had with people, like playing mini golf in my dorm hallway, just simple stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can you take me through the thought process when you got hurt in Miami?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wilson: \u201cI actually didn\u2019t know my hand was broken. I went and got an X-ray and it wasn\u2019t broken, and then I was just like, \u2018Forget it, I\u2019m gonna play if there\u2019s not a risk of me messing it up even more,\u2019 I\u2019ll just go out there and play, but it did hurt pretty bad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t really dribble or anything like that. And I went back out there, I tried to play, and then afterwards, I thought it was a sprain or something like that, because it was hurting to move. I feel like, if it\u2019s not gonna make you worse, if it\u2019s not gonna hurt you more, just go hoop.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Have the lessons you learned through the first rehab helped you as you\u2019ve gone through the second injury?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wilson: \u201cYeah it definitely has, it was like a precursor, honestly. It definitely helped me a lot, but I always keep an optimistic mindset because life is good for me, whether I play basketball or not.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI still have a family, I still have somewhere to live, I still have money to eat. It\u2019s tough that I can\u2019t play, but I\u2019m definitely doing great.<\/p>\n

What do you think, from your vantage point, are some things that this team can improve to be able to make a run in the postseason?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wilson: \u201cJust enthusiasm, honestly. I feel like the harder we play, the more it will impact us in a winning way. You know, basketball is an X\u2019s and O\u2019s game, but we\u2019re a great team. I feel like the enthusiasm and willingness to play hard will take us a long way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Do you think you can make an impact in that way even though you\u2019re on the sidelines?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wilson: \u201cI feel like there\u2019s always a way to make an impact, just telling people what you see when they come off the court and also just try to encourage people and talk a little trash when you\u2019re on the bench.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s only so much you can do when you\u2019re not out there but I just try to make an impact in any way that I can.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

How close were you to coming back for the second Duke game?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wilson: \u201cI was really close. I probably would have played in it if this didn\u2019t happen to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

BONUS QUOTES<\/p>\n

On the second, thumb, injury<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t mean to. I have a really high pain tolerance, so I can do something bad to myself and it won\u2019t hurt that bad, but it just swelled up really fast. And I was like \u2018I don\u2019t know, maybe I jammed it really bad,\u2019 but I didn\u2019t know I broke it, and then I found out. I was like \u2018dang that\u2019s crazy,\u2019 but I dunk hard, so maybe I should start dunking softer.\u201d<\/p>\n

On his NBA decision<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I haven\u2019t decided that, but I love Carolina. It\u2019s a great place to play and be at, and it\u2019s been the most fun year of my life. So it\u2019ll definitely be hard to say no and go ahead and go to the NBA. So it\u2019s just something I haven\u2019t really come to a true decision on yet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GREENVILLE, S.C. \u2014 For the first time since his season-ending injury, Caleb Wilson spoke Wednesday afternoon inside the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7,5391],"class_list":{"0":"post-666711","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-caleb-wilson-25-holy-innocents-episcopal-school"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116255518525940362","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}