Caleb Wilson commits to North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball over Kentucky Wildcats

Top-10 recruit Caleb Wilson has committed North Carolina Tar Heels over the Kentucky Wildcats and Ohio State Buckeyes. Wilson announced Thursday’s edition of NBA on TNT.

Wilson was a Kentucky target under John Calipari, even participating in Big Blue Madness in 2023, but was initially thought to be a longshot when Pope and Co. took over. That said, they were able to get him on campus for an official visit back in September, and after a near-perfect visit took the lead in his recruitment.

After missing out on several top recruiting targets this cycle, including No. 1 overall prospect AJ Dybantsa, Hubert Davis and North Carolina stepped up their pursuit of Wilson in November. When his job security declined in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels reportedly offered Wilson the highest NIL package of the final three schools.

Wilson was certainly a prospect that Kentucky put a lot of effort into and wanted. Now they want to reevaluate and I’m told they want to look at the options in the high school recruits and transfer portal.

In the 2025 class, Kentucky is still alive for top-five wing Nate Ament, but it would be an uphill battle, and Alijah Arenas, who recently reclassified from 2026. The Wildcats could look at Miikka Muurinen, a 2026 prospect , which is a reclassified candidate.

As for the portal, it’s too early to tell, but with the $2+ million that Kentucky would have spent on Wilson, they could get an ELITE wing if an experienced player or two on the level of Andrew Carr becomes available.

With commitments from Acaden Lewis, Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno, the Wildcats are currently ranked sixth overall.

The most important thing is that they have options.