Hubert Davis has an easy Caleb Wilson decision to make for UNC vs. Pitt

North Carolina’s trip to Coral Gables on Tuesday night was far from a success, but it wasn’t a total disaster either. It was veering in that direction when Caleb Wilson went to the locker room in the second half with an apparent injury, but Wilson ultimately returned with a wrap on his hand, and Hubert Davis later announced that Wilson suffered a sprained wrist. 

UNC still fell 75-66 on the road for its fourth ACC loss of the year, but Wilson avoided a catastrophic injury that could have derailed the Tar Heels' entire season. To prevent that from happening on Saturday, when UNC hosts Pitt at the Dean Smith Center, Davis has an easy decision to make. 

Hubert Davis needs to keep Caleb Wilson on ice until he’s 100 percent 

Another five-star freshman, Kansas’s Darryn Peterson, seems to be bringing load management to college basketball this year. The potential No. 1 overall pick has missed multiple games under dubious circumstances, citing cramps, an ankle sprain, and, most recently, the flu, or at least, ‘flu-like symptoms.’

Davis shouldn’t go that far with Wilson. North Carolina needs to win games to stay in position for NCAA Tournament seeding and to give itself the best chance of winning the conference tournament. To Davis, that’s more important than which pick Wilson comes off the board at during this summer’s NBA Draft. 

However, to accomplish those goals of winning the most games this year and maximizing Wilson’s lone collegiate season, it’s not hard to argue that holding him out on Saturday is the best course of action. 

Yes, it was just a wrist sprain, but with how Wilson plays, flying around the court to block shots and deflect passes on the defensive end and battling for position in the post offensively, that injury can easily be reaggravated or even exacerbated against the last-place team in the ACC with a 2-10 conference record after a Tuesday night 70-54 shellacking at the hands of Duke. 

The Panthers are 108th in KenPom, and their last win came on January 27 in overtime against a Wake Forest team that has just three conference victories. If UNC can’t take care of business at home against Pitt without Wilson, then the team doesn’t deserve a top seed in the NCAA Tournament. 

Davis needs to weigh which is more likely, Pitt beating UNC without Wilson or Wilson aggravating his wrist injury if he does play. Then, he needs to weight the realistic worst-case scenarios. If Pitt does beat UNC without Wilson, the Tar Heels will still make the NCAA Tournament field. If Wilson make this injury worse and it hampers him the rest of the season or knocks him out for the year, it won’t matter if they punch their ticket to the big dance because they won’t be staying for long. 

Davis can’t get too precious with his freshman superstar. Wilson can’t spend the rest of the regular season in bubble wrap. But a home game against the worst team in the ACC is as good a time as any to make sure you keep your best player healthy.