Heel Tough Blog: Caleb Wilson Suffers Left Hand Fracture

ESPN

After it was reported yesterday by the News & Observer, along with Inside Carolina, and other UNC sites, that freshman Caleb Wilson had suffered a sprained left wrist, the Carolina Basketball program announced earlier this afternoon that Wilson has suffered a fracture in his left hand and will be out for the foreseeable future. The injury occurred during the loss to Miami on Tuesday night, when Wilson left the game for an extended period of time to have his left wrist taped up. He did return in the second half and was able to score a bucket after reentering the game, but didn’t play the final 1:43 of the game. In the postgame press conference, Hubert Davis was hesitant even to address that there was something wrong with Wilson, who scored just 12 points in the defeat. 

This injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Tar Heels, who are 19-5 and 7-4 in the ACC, needing a strong finish to the regular season to get a top-4 finish in the ACC and a high seed for the NCAA Tournament. Without Wilson, both of those things feel less attainable, as Carolina will be without their leading scorer and rebounder for an unknown amount of time. 

There are 31 days until Selection Sunday, as Carolina still has seven games left to play in the ACC before the ACC Tournament in Charlotte next month. While it’s unknown how many games Wilson will ultimately miss, it’s up to the guys on the roster to pick up his production, beginning with Henri Veesaar, who will become Carolina’s primary offensive target, starting on Saturday against Pittsburgh. But Veesaar will need consistent contributions from guards Seth Trimble and Derek Dixon, along with Jonathan Powell and Luka Bogavac. 

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