Chapel Hill, NC – Star Freshman Caleb Wilson Increasing practice work for number 17 North Carolina Ahead of the rivalry game at No. 1 ruler But coach Hubert Davis said Thursday that he has not yet been cleared for 5-on-5 action because of a fractured hand.
The 6-foot-10 NBA player has missed six games since injuring his left, non-shooting hand in a Feb. 10 loss. miami. Davis said earlier this week that Wilson has given up his role and is doing non-contact work like dribbling and shooting.
“He’s making progress,” Davis said Thursday. “He’s doing individual workouts. Since we played on Tuesday, we didn’t practice yesterday and we’ll practice today. He’ll practice more today. But other than that I don’t have any other information.”
North Carolina is 5-1 without Wilson, who is averaging 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds. The injury in the Miami loss came just days after scoring 23 points in a thrilling win against the Blue Devils Seth Trimble‘s last-second 3-pointer.
The ultra-competitive rookie has said in a social media post that he intends to return this season.
“Caleb really wants to play, he wants to get back as soon as possible,” Trimble said Thursday. “So nothing really surprises me anymore.”
The Tar Heels (24-6, 12-5) are already locked into the No. 4 seed in next week’s ACC Tournament. If Wilson misses Saturday’s trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium, UNC’s quarterfinal opener at Charlotte will be 30 days after his injury.
Duke (28-2, 16-1) has won seven in a row since a Feb. 7 loss at UNC, including a neutral-court win against then-No. 1. 1 michigan And last weekend’s 26-point win against now-No. 13 Virginia.
“Either way it’s a good challenge for our defense,” Duke coach John Scheyer said of Wilson’s situation Thursday. “And I really want us to play to our standard of who we are and what we’ve done, whether that’s playing or not.”
