{"id":206133,"date":"2025-09-06T22:58:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T22:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/206133\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T22:58:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T22:58:16","slug":"star-unc-basketball-freshman-makes-bold-claim-about-upcoming-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/206133\/","title":{"rendered":"Star UNC basketball freshman makes bold claim about upcoming season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The North Carolina Tar Heels <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/analyst-calls-unc-basketballs-offseason-150035660.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:reloaded their basketball roster this offseason;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">reloaded their basketball roster this offseason<\/a>, with hopes they can take that next step towards a seventh NCAA Championship.<\/p>\n<p>UNC upgraded their post, adding height in the form of Arizona transfer Henri Veesaar, Chapel Hill native Jarin Stevenson, 5-star freshman power forward <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/unc-basketball-head-coach-hubert-000923394.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Caleb Wilson;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Caleb Wilson<\/a> and 7-footer Ivan Matlekovic. North Carolina landed a starting point guard in Kyan Evans, starting wing in Luka Bogavac, plus improved its overall depth.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>One of those newest roster additions all but guaranteed the Tar Heels would be a better team this coming season. Before the <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/unc-football-releases-hype-video-163025509.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:UNC-TCU football game on Monday night;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">UNC-TCU football game on Monday night<\/a>, Wilson said his teammates would &#8220;put belt on everybody.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m gonna tell you how I\u2019m feeling right now. I don\u2019t like <a href=\"https:\/\/dukewire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/college\/duke\/mens-basketball\/2025\/08\/30\/duke-basketball-rivals-unc-nc-state\/85911629007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Duke;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Duke<\/a>, I don\u2019t like NC State, I don\u2019t like Wake Forest. This year, we\u2019re putting belt on everybody. I\u2019m talking about real belt, sparkle bedazzle. You already know what time it is. Stay up, Tar Heels winning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Normally, I&#8217;m against statements like Wilson&#8217;s, but his bold claim isn&#8217;t unrealistic. North Carolina&#8217;s roster has plenty of newcomers scattered across it, but those newcomers bring more experience \u2013\u00a0and talent \u2013 to Chapel Hill.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the players I previously mentioned, the Tar Heels also added Jonathan Powell (West Virginia) and Jaydon Young (Virginia Tech) in the portal. Big man Zayden High returns after a season away from the team, while Derek Dixon and Isaiah Denis complete <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/members-uncs-2025-basketball-recruiting-183014691.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:UNC&#039;s 2025 recruiting class.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">UNC&#8217;s 2025 recruiting class.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>North Carolina will <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/unc-basketball-face-off-against-201543455.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:face AJ Dybantsa and the BYU Cougars;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">face AJ Dybantsa and the BYU Cougars<\/a> on Friday, October 24 to open its 2-game preseason slate, then begin regular season play Monday, November 3 against Central Arkansas. Wilson will have plenty of chances to back up his bold claim during non-conference play, with the Tar Heels scheduled to face Kansas (Nov. 7), <a href=\"https:\/\/spartanswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/college\/spartans\/mens-basketball\/2024\/11\/21\/michigan-state-basketball-set-to-play-north-carolina-on-thanksgiving-2025\/76485021007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Michigan State;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Michigan State<\/a> (Thanksgiving Day), <a href=\"https:\/\/ukwildcatswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/college\/kentucky\/mens-basketball\/2025\/06\/12\/kentucky-wildcats-north-carolina-acc-sec-challenge\/84170950007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Kentucky;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Kentucky<\/a> (December 2), Georgetown (Dec. 7) and <a href=\"https:\/\/buckeyeswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/college\/buckeyes\/mens-basketball\/2025\/05\/01\/ohio-state-to-face-north-carolina-in-cbs-sports-classic\/83399200007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Ohio State;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Ohio State<\/a> (Dec. 20).<\/p>\n<p>Follow us\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tarheelswire\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:@TarHeelsWire;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">@TarHeelsWire<\/a>\u00a0on X and like our page on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TarHeelsWire\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Facebook;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/ncaaf\/teams\/north-carolina-tar-heels\/3412\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Tar Heels;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Tar Heels<\/a>\u00a0news, notes and opinions.<\/p>\n<p>This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: <a href=\"https:\/\/tarheelswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/college\/tarheels\/mens-basketball\/2025\/09\/06\/unc-basketball-caleb-wilson-2025-2026-season-opponents\/85999878007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Caleb Wilson claims UNC basketball will &quot;put belt on everybody&quot;;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Caleb Wilson claims UNC basketball will &#8220;put belt on everybody&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The North Carolina Tar Heels reloaded their basketball roster this offseason, with hopes they can take that next&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":206134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[1339,3920,113403,113406,113405,113404,113407,19785,357,1317,1337,1338,519,3910,62,107924,18415,67,132,68,36323,13642],"class_list":{"0":"post-206133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-byu-cougars","10":"tag-caleb-wilson","11":"tag-henri-veesaar","12":"tag-ivan-matlekovic","13":"tag-jarin-stevenson","14":"tag-jonathan-powell","15":"tag-kansas","16":"tag-kentucky","17":"tag-ncaa","18":"tag-ncaa-basketball","19":"tag-ncaabasketball","20":"tag-north-carolina","21":"tag-north-carolina-tar-heels","22":"tag-sports","23":"tag-tar-heels","24":"tag-unc","25":"tag-united-states","26":"tag-unitedstates","27":"tag-us","28":"tag-virginia-tech","29":"tag-west-virginia"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115159833226231478","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}