Caleb Noah Sheldon Wilson (born July 18, 2006) is an American basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels. He was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2025 class. Wilson was selected by the Bulls with the fourth-overall pick in the 2026 NBA draft.
Early life and high school career
Wilson was born and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and attended Holy Innocents' Episcopal School. He averaged 14.5 points, 12.6 rebounds, 5.2 blocks, 3.9 assists, and 1.2 steals per game during his sophomore year. Wilson averaged 21 points, 15 rebounds, and over 4 blocks per game as a junior. He tallied 21.6 points, 11.1 rebounds, five assists, 3.6 blocks, and 2.1 steals per contest to lead HIES to its first state championship. He was selected to play in the 2025 McDonald's All-American Boys Game during his senior year.
Wilson was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2025 class, according to major recruiting services. He committed to play college basketball at North Carolina over offers from Kentucky and Ohio State.
Wilson enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in June 2025 in order to take part in the Tar Heels' summer practices.
Wilson made headlines as a fan favorite in his second appearance for the Tar Heels after leading UNC to a victory over Kansas with a game-high 24 points.
On February 9, when number 14 North Carolina, defeated number 4 Duke 71–68 in their Carolina–Duke rivalry game, Wilson posted a team-high 23 points just below the game-high 24 points of Cameron Boozer. Wilson suffered a fractured left hand on February 10, 2026, during the Tar Heels' loss to Miami at the Watsco Center, ruling him out for the rest of the season. At the time of his injury, Wilson was leading North Carolina in scoring, rebounding, steals, and blocks per game. On March 6, it was announced that Wilson would require season-ending surgery to repair a broken thumb suffered while dunking a ball during practice.
On June 23, 2026, Caleb Wilson was selected with the fourth overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 2026 NBA draft. In his NBA Summer League debut, Wilson scored 35 points, which is an NBA summer league debut-game record point total by a professional rookie, with 7 made 3 pointers. The record was achieved against Cameron Boozer of the Memphis Grizzlies, as their Carolina–Duke rivalry made its way to the NBA of these former AAU teammates (who went 3rd and 4th in the 2026 NBA draft). Notably, in his second summer league game he posterized Jonas Aidoo, leaving the 2nd overall pick Darryn Peterson in shock.
Their July 16, 2026 summer league loss to the Los Angeles Lakers was attended by hall-of-famer Kevin Garnett, who Wilson has been compared to. When asked about the comparisons, Garnett called Wilson "Little Ticket" in reference to his own nickname.