Caleb Wilson or Darryn Peterson? Draft showdown has clear winner

North Carolina Tar Heels forward Caleb Wilson. Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

UNC's Caleb Wilson gets best of Kansas' Darryn Peterson in 2026 NBA Draft showdown

By Adam Gretz | Last updated Nov 7, 2025 10:10 PM ET

The 25th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels scored their first big, resume-building win of 2025-26 college basketball season on Friday night, knocking off No. 19 Kansas by an 87-74 margin. The driving force behind that win, which included a monster second-half performance by the Tar Heels as they erased an eight-point halftime deficit and outscored Kansas by 21 points in the final 20 minutes.

Freshman Caleb Wilson, one of the top-projected picks in the 2026 NBA Draft, was the player who drove the bus in that performance as he outshined Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, the projected No. 1 pick in 2026.

North Carolina's Caleb Wilson gets the best of Kansas' Darryn Peterson

Peterson has emerged as the projected No. 1 pick in 2026, and he was mostly outstanding on Friday, finishing with 22 points, three rebounds and three assists. He's now topped at least 20 points in each of his first two NCAA games and clearly has the look of an elite prospect that NBA fans will be keeping an eye on all season.

But for as good as he was on Friday, it was the other top draft prospect in this game — Wilson — who ended up stealing the show.

Wilson ended up scoring a game-high 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting, while also collecting seven rebounds, four assists, four steals and recording just one turnover. He was everywhere — and looked every bit the lottery pick that Peterson is.

Caleb Wilson was COOKING tonight ‍

24 PTS | 7 REB | 4 STL pic.twitter.com/LB2KfkauBP
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) November 8, 2025

Along with the production and the numbers, he also displayed a relentless motor and work ethic, out-hustling everybody on the floor for loose balls and attacking the glass.

Wilson has not been projected to go quite as high in 2026, but he has consistently appeared around the top-10 or higher in most mock draft and projections.

But if he keeps performing the way he has so far this season in his first two games, it might not only improve his 2026 draft stock, but it could also help North Carolina get back into the national title discussion after a couple of mediocre and down years for the program. It is still early in both his career and the season, but it is a great first impression.

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on Twitter @AGretz

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