{"id":184363,"date":"2026-03-29T11:47:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T15:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=184363"},"modified":"2026-03-29T11:47:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T15:47:39","slug":"what-does-caleb-wilsons-early-departure-mean-for-unc-and-the-latest-on-tar-heels-coaching-search","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/03\/29\/what-does-caleb-wilsons-early-departure-mean-for-unc-and-the-latest-on-tar-heels-coaching-search\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does Caleb Wilson’s Early Departure Mean For UNC and The Latest On Tar Heels Coaching Search"},"content":{"rendered":"

The North Carolina Tar Heels are in a little bit of disarray. The Tar Heels fired Hubert Davis<\/a> without a real succession plan, and then on Friday evening, Caleb Wilson,<\/a> unsurprisingly, departed for the NBA.\u00a0 What is next for the Tar Heels?<\/p>\n

What Does Caleb Wilson’s Early Departure Mean For UNC and The Latest on the Tar Heels’ Coaching Search<\/h2>\n

UNC<\/a> started the 2025-26 season strong, winning 19 of its first 24 games. But Wilson<\/a> broke his left hand in the Tar Heels’ loss to Miami on February 10 and then fractured his right thumb as he was preparing to return in practice. The Tar Heels went 5-4 down the stretch, losing their last three. After falling to Duke in the ACC regular-season final, the Heels lost to Clemson in the conference tournament quarterfinals (by 1). They were then ousted in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by VCU in overtime.<\/p>\n

UNC finished the season with a 24-9 record, marking the Tar Heels’ fifth straight 20-win campaign. Still, the Tar Heels brass inexplicably decided to part ways with Davis<\/a>, who is a legend in Chapel Hill. Davis finishes his five-year tenure, fourth on the program’s list with 125 victories, though just 11th in winning percentage (69.4). He also led them to an ACC regular-season title and a Final Four appearance.<\/p>\n

UNC relied heavily on Wilson, who had a historic freshman campaign<\/a>, and senior forward Henri Veesaar<\/a>, as well as senior guard Seth Trimble<\/a>, this past season. While the trio led the way for the Tar Heels, all three dealt with injuries. Those three players missed a combined 2o games. The Heels were 11-4 when all three players were available.<\/p>\n

Despite the injuries, UNC ranked in the top 100 nationally in both offense and defense efficiency. The Tar Heels averaged 79.7 points per game (84th), shot 47.1% from the field (65th), and shared the ball extremely well (16.0 assists). They also protected the ball well at 9.6 turnovers (29th).<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Bob Donnan, Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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What Is Next For The Tar Heels?<\/h3>\n

Hiring a new coach is the top priority for UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham. Here is what is known thus far. While Wilson and Trimble won’t return, the Tar Heels project to get everyone else back as it stands now.<\/p>\n

Veesaar, who took a redshirt with Arizona in 2023-24, has a year of eligibility left, though he could follow Wilson to the NBA<\/a> as a potential second-round draft pick, per ESPN.<\/a> Veesaar had a career year with 17.0 points — as he shot 60.8% from the field and 1.3 threes at a 42.6% clip — 8.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.2 blocks.<\/p>\n

Junior guard Luka Bogavac<\/a> showed some promise in his first season in college basketball.\u00a0 Bogavac, who had an up-and-down shooting campaign,\u00a0 scored in double figures in 19 of 33 appearances, including five games of at least 15 points. His best scoring game came against Clemson in the ACC Tournament, where he tallied 20 points on 6 of 14 shooting, including 6 of 10 from deep.\u00a0 He finished the season with 9.2 points a game and 1.6 threes at a 34.9% clip.<\/p>\n

Derek Dixon<\/a>, a consensus top-50 recruit in 2025, played some of his best basketball down the stretch. Known for his 3-point shooting ability, Dixon scored in double figures in each of his last three games. Overall, Dixon averaged 13.2 points, 3.2 assists, and 2.5 rebounds. and 1.2 steals in four March appearances. March was also his best shooting month as he connected on 48.6% of his shots and 15 of 25 from deep (60%).<\/p>\n

Jarin Stevenson<\/a> is also in his first season at UNC after transferring from Alabama<\/a>. Stevenson continued to improve and had the best season of his career. The 6-11 forward was one of the Tar Heels’ top defensive players and rebounders. He finished the season with 8.1 points on 47% shooting from the field and 4.4 rebounds (1.4 offensive). Additionally, he scored in double figures 10 times, including each of his last three games, and grabbed double-digit rebounds once.<\/p>\n

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2026 Recruits and Transfer Portal<\/h4>\n

Meanwhile, Jonathan Powell<\/a> struggled mightily, though, in his first season with the Heels after a solid freshman campaign at WVU. Powell shot just 38.2% from the field,ld though he did connect on 1.2 threes at a 36.5% clip.\u00a0 Kyan Evans<\/a> and Jaydon Young<\/a> also struggled. James Brown<\/a>, a consensus top-100 recruit in 2024, suffered a season-ending\u00a0foot injury<\/a> in December.<\/p>\n

North Carolina has three players committed for the class of 2026. Whether they will stick around once Carolina picks a new coach, only time will tell. Consensus four-star recruit Maximo Adams<\/a>, a 6-7 wing, has signed a letter of intent with the Tar Heels. The Tar Heels also have verbal commitments from five-star point guard Dylan Mingo<\/a> and 6-5 combo guard Malloy Smith<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“If Veesaar is back at UNC, he and Stevenson should form one of the better frontcourt duos in the ACC. If Veesaar leaves, the Tar Heels will need to target a high-level big man in the portal, Jeff Borzello of ESPN said. “In addition to a potential Veesaar replacement, the Tar Heels also probably will need an upgrade when it comes to perimeter shotmaking and explosiveness. None of Bogavac, Powell, or Young was overly consistent as a scorer. And though Mingo is a terrific addition — as is four-star forward\u00a0<\/span>Maximo Adams<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>— neither is a knockdown shooter. If the roster falls apart following Davis’ potential departure, Veesaar, Stevenson, and Dixon should be the retention priorities for a new coach.”<\/p>\n

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Coaching Updates<\/h3>\n

There has been a lot of chatter about UNC’s head coaching job lately. Assistant coach Marcus Paige<\/a> accepted an assistant coach job<\/a> on newly hired Wes Miller’s<\/a> staff at Charlotte this weekend.<\/p>\n

Former NBA player and UNC alum Kenny Smith<\/a>‘s name has been bantered about but he didn’t sound interested<\/a> in the job.\u00a0 And former Auburn and Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl<\/a> shot down TNT’s Charles Barkley’s<\/a> endorsement for the job last night<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Speaking of Pearl, he believes Chicago Bulls<\/a> head coach Billy Donovan<\/a> is the perfect candidate.\u00a0 Donovan, who led Florida to two national championships and four Final Fours, has spent the past 11 years with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Chicago Bulls. He owns a 467-407 record, though he hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2022.<\/p>\n

“Can we get Billy Donovan to come back to college?” Pearl asked<\/a>. “That would be spectacular.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With North Carolina in a holding pattern, according to The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman<\/a>, Donovan could be a legitimate candidate. Goodman said that the Tar Heels are waiting to talk to Arizona’s coach Tommy Lloyd<\/a>, who led the Wildcats to the 2026 Final Four last night, and Michigan head coach Dusty May.<\/a>\u00a0 May and his Wolverines will join Lloyd at the Final Four if Michigan defeats Tennessee this afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I can tell you about North Carolina right now is they\u2019re in a bit of a holding pattern,\u201d Goodman\u00a0<\/span>said\u00a0via\u00a0<\/span>The Field of 68. \u201cBecause the guys they want are still playing and might be playing through next week \u2014\u00a0<\/span>Tommy Lloyd\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Dusty May. So, if those guys end up winning in their Elite Eight matchups and go to the Final Four, both of them are probably going to say, \u2018You know what? There\u2019s no way I\u2019m talking to them. You can talk to my agent all you want. But I\u2019m not thinking about this right now.’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy sources have told me it\u2019s unlikely Dusty May takes Carolina,\u201d Goodman added. \u201cIt\u2019s unlikely. Not going to say it\u2019s no chance, but Dusty May, as I\u2019ve said before, is very happy. Family is very happy at Michigan.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The North Carolina Tar Heels are in a little bit of disarray. The Tar Heels fired Hubert Davis without a real succession plan, and then on Friday evening, Caleb Wilson, unsurprisingly, departed for the NBA.\u00a0 What is next for the Tar Heels? What Does Caleb Wilson’s Early Departure Mean For UNC and The Latest on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":184533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,8,773,2,62,3],"tags":[846,545,1413,49355,37974,866,914,49278],"class_list":["post-184363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-bulls","category-college-basketball","category-featured","category-nba","category-news","tag-arizona-wildcats","tag-billy-donovan","tag-bruce-pearl","tag-dusty-may","tag-kenny-smith","tag-michigan-wolverines","tag-north-carolina-tar-heels","tag-tommy-lloyd"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184363"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184539,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184363\/revisions\/184539"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}