Five-star wing Caleb Wilson wins Peach Jam, breaks down recruitment
By SAM LANCE & ADAM ZAGORIA
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — Few people are doing as much winning this summer as Caleb Wilson.
The 6-foot-9 jumbo wing from Atlanta (GA) Holy Innocents Episcopal School helped his Nightrydas Elite team go a perfect 8-0 to capture the Peach Jam championship this past Sunday.
Playing alongside Cam and Cayden Boozer, Wilson averaged 17.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.8 blocks, 2.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game during the prestigious Peach Jam.
“I came into Peach knowing that in order to separate myself from the rest and help my team win I had to defend at a high level,” he said, per League Ready. “I focused on helping my teammates in help defense with my length and quickness so we could force teams to their weaknesses. I also focused on my on-ball defense, using my wide base and body contact to force people into tough shots. My coach emphasized defense and my ability to defend everyone so it became my primary focus throughout the week.”
Before that, Wilson was among 18 finalists for the USA U18 team. Although he did not make the final cut, he was part of the program that went on to win the FIBA U18 AmeriCup.
On top of all of that, Wilson also recently signed on with Klutch Athletics by New Balance and worked out with LeBron James in the gym.
“It was great, it was great learned a lot about basketball on and off the court and I was able to get some tips that will help me play better today,” he told ZAGSBLOG of working out with LeBron.
“I learned how to play with a good base, being patient and reading people’s offensive tendencies to play better defense,” he said.
Caleb Wilson (No. 5 ESPN
— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) July 20, 2024) helps Nightrydas (FL) advance to the Final 4⃣ at Peach Jam
18pts
Wilson is being pursued by a Who’s Who of big-time programs. His father, Jerry, said they will visit Arkansas, Duke, Oregon, Tennessee and Georgia Tech this fall, while also attending games at Auburn and North Carolina. Caleb also mentioned a potential visit to Baylor and broke down his top suitors in an exclusive interview with ZAGSBLOG.
Kentucky: “It’s going good. I heard from them [recently]. I talked to Mark Pope, I talked to Jason Hart. And we started to have a good relationship.
“[They have] just a rich basketball history, a great fan base, it’s a good school, a good program.”
Tennessee: “[Rick Barnes and his staff] just [want to] help promote me do what I can do. Just be an excellent defender, being able to take pride in defense. And also being able to use sets and motions to get open for good high-quality shots.
“I like the culture. Rick Barnes has coached other pros like Kevin Durant. I like how he says we have similarities.”
Arkansas: “I talk to them often. Just pushing for me to take a visit. I’m going to take a visit there and just telling me how they can develop me to be a good player at the next level.
“[John Calipari] is a tough-nosed coach that’s going to push me to be good, that’s all I want to is to be pushed to excellence.”
Auburn: “Auburn, their program, great fan base and coach BP [Bruce Pearl] has a really good pipeline with Atlanta so I’m able to see that he’s really doing well with people that come out of my city.”
Duke: “Same thing. Really rich basketball history, so it’s definitely appealing and interesting for me to look at them.
“I think it’s good [how Jon Scheyer has succeeded Coach K]. Of course it’s going to be difficult at the beginning to go to such a historic program to keeping it up, so he’s definitely doing a good job.”
Georgia Tech: “Coach [Damon Stoudamire] is a hometown coach and is pushing for me to be a pillar of the community with the Georgia Tech fanbase.”
Baylor: “Really good basketball. They usually have good guards, which is something I really value when I get into college so that’s what’s appealing to me about Baylor.”
Wilson said he plans to trim his list to “8 or 10” schools in the coming weeks.
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