Caleb Wilson won’t be featuring in North Carolina’s game against the Virginia Tech Hokies tonight. The Tar Heels are hosting the Hokies tonight at 8:30 pm ET in Chapel Hill. After today, the No. 18 Tar Heels have two games left to play in their regular season, against Clemson and No. 1 Duke.
At a recent interview this week, coach Hubert Davis said that if it were up to Wilson, he would return immediately to the court:
“He would play tonight, if I would let him. He wants to be out on the court badly. And he’s getting better every day. Have another doctor’s visit a little bit later this week and just reevaluate the timetable.”
A more realistic target, according to some reports, seems to be a return for the regular season finale against the Duke Blue Devils next Saturday. Wilson suffered a fracture to his left hand on February 10th against Miami after landing awkwardly on the floor. Initially, the injury didn’t look that important, and he even returned to the game against the Hurricanes.
North Carolina’s Hurtbert Davis initial expectations regarding Caleb Wilson’s injury
It does seem that the calculus for Caleb Wilson’s injury recovery has changed a bit over the last few days, as initially, Hubert Davis seemed more confident about a quick return to the courts for his star player.
Speaking shortly after the injury, Davis said the following on Monday last week:
“Caleb, he is great,” Davis said Monday night of last week on his semiweekly radio show. “I think if I said ‘OK,’ I think he would play with his cast on or his splint. I think he would. He’s just champing at the bit to come back because obviously he loves to play, but he loves his teammates and he loves playing here.”
“He’ll be back on the floor soon, so that’ll be great.”
The injury doesn’t seem to have progressed nearly as fast, as it looks like he won’t return until Saturday next week. Other factors could be impacting the calculus, among them how necessary it is to risk him with the ACC and NCAA Tournaments still ahead. Better to let him properly recover and have him at full strength in the key games is a logical path to take.
Caleb Wilson is considered a top-four 2026 NBA Draft prospect. He is undoubtedly North Carolina’s best player so far this season, averaging 19.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.
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