North Carolina (24-6 straight up, 17-13 against the spread) star freshman forward Caleb Wilson broke his right thumb during Thursday’s practice and has reportedly undergone season-ending surgery already. He’s expected to be cleared for the NBA predraft process and will be in the mix to possibly be the No. 1 overall pick.
Wilson has missed UNC’s last six games after fracturing his left hand in a loss at Miami last month. He had just returned to practice this week in hopes of possibly playing Saturday at Duke or in next week’s ACC Tournament.
This is a crushing loss for the Tar Heels, who have posted a 5-1 SU record with a 4-2 ATS mark in their last six games without Wilson. They’ll take a four-game winning streak into Durham tomorrow.
As of Friday afternoon, most books had Duke installed as a 16.5-point home favorite with a total of 144.5. FanDuel had UNC at +1160 on the money line.
In 24 games for the Tar Heels, Wilson averaged 19.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocked shots per game. He hit 57.8 percent of his field-goal attempts and 71.3 percent of his free throws.
North Carolina is #24 in the NET Rankings. In the latest edition of ‘Bracketology’ released this morning from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, UNC was a #5 seed in the West Region.
FanDuel has the Tar Heels with 125/1 odds to win the 2026 NCAA Tournament. That number was 60/1 back in mid-February after Wilson’s initial injury.