The North Carolina Tar Heels are getting set for round two against the Duke Blue Devils as the 2025-26 college basketball regular season comes to an end on Saturday night. After winning the first matchup in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels are hoping for a sweep.
But prior to Saturday’s rematch, UNC was hit with the news that star freshman Caleb Wilson would miss the rest of the regular season with a broken thumb. Wilson suffered the injury in practice on Thursday as his season and UNC career.
Prior to Saturday’s game, Pete Thamel reported just how close Wilson was to playing on Saturday during a segment on ESPN’s College Gameday. The reporter stated that Wilson was cleared by the program for five-on-five drills on Thursday. That was the next hurdle in returning to the court.
It likely means that Wilson would have played against Duke. The star freshman hit the tip of his thumb on the rim on a dunk and X-rays revealed the injury.
Latest on the injury to UNC’s Caleb Wilson from @CollegeGameDay. pic.twitter.com/GVSI7eMTSV
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 7, 2026
Brutal news not only for the Tar Heels but for Wilson who was targeting this game as a return. The Tar Heels did go 5-1 without Wilson in the lineup and his return would have hopefully propelled them on a run in March.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball: Report suggets Caleb Wilson was ready to return