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University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Lucas: A Dunking Display
November 3, 2025 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Dunks don't equal wins, but they can be very indicative of a winning team.
By Adam Lucas
Dunks aren't everything.
They aren't even much of anything.
But they are something.
And so it matters that the Tar Heels slammed it home eleven times in Monday's 94-54 season-opening victory over Central Arkansas. The official box score credits Carolina with ten; that shortchanges them one Caleb Wilson follow slam off a Henri Veesaar miss that was classified as a "tip-in."
The Tar Heels made 23 two-point field goals in this game. You can probably do the math yourself—that means nearly half of them involved rim contact.
It was fun to watch. All seven of Wilson's two-point baskets were dunks, which he executed in a variety of styles that included:
Off two feet in traffic.
Off a lob with two hands.
Off a lob in the half court.
On the offensive glass.
Driving the baseline with a ferocious two-handed finish.
Off an inbounds play and getting off the floor faster than anyone on defense could react to slam it through with one hand.
Punctuating a full 94-foot Carolina fast break off a blocked shot.
After the game, Wilson's litany of dunks were being recounted to Carolina head coach Hubert Davis. The happy head coach shook his head in amazement and then said, "And he even left some on the table!"
Which he did. Wilson missed a second half dunk that appeared he tried to dunk it too hard—when the freshman jams, he doesn't softly drop it through the rim—and then missed out on perhaps the most spectacular play of the night when both he and Seth Trimble were cleared for takeoff to receive a lob from Kyan Evans but both thought the pass was intended for them. Instead of a highlight reel, it turned into a missed opportunity—one of the very few in the entire game.
The play can be excused for one simple reason: how nice is it to have multiple players capable of running the floor and finishing at the rim, even if they don't execute it perfectly every time? Carolina is a talented, athletic, explosive team. There was no better example of it than a signature play with 4:30 remaining. Veesaar wrestled away a blocked shot from Central Arkansas. He fired to Jaydon Young on an outlet pass. Young had to save the ball near the sideline and lofted a hit-ahead pass to Seth Trimble ahead of the defense.
The pass was just a touch ahead of Trimble, so he tracked it down near the baseline and instinctively flipped it behind his back to Wilson, who finished it—you probably already knew this—with a dunk. It was the kind of uptempo, relentless play that makes you excited to watch more Carolina Basketball this year.
"We shared the ball really well," Veesaar said. "And when we get stops it's easy to run. We were able to get quickly to offense and execute well."
The 2024-25 Tar Heels had nine dunks in the first three games of the season, 120 minutes of game action.
This year's Heels clocked 11 dunks in just the first 37 minutes of Monday's game, several of the get out of your seat variety. The must-see factor is very high with this year's team. There will be days they have to win by putting the ball in the basket from greater distance. But just the ability to have a night like Monday tells you something about the way this team is constructed.
You know what you didn't see on Monday? Dribbling while the shot clock ticked down, then hoisting a three-pointer over the outstretched arm of a defender. There's no need when you can simply attack the rim with multiple weapons. Davis likes to call it "positional size," which means the Heels are bigger all over the court.
Approaching the rim doesn't guarantee victories; flashy dunks don't get wins. But at least in the Davis era, high-percentage shots very much equal winning. Carolina shot 50.8 percent from the field against the Bears, thanks largely to the rim parade. They are now 36-1 in Davis' five seasons when hitting the 50 percent field goal mark.
Just as importantly, the Tar Heels seemed to enjoy watching each other have success, which has a way of generating point-blank baskets. Players have talked all summer about their chemistry. On Monday, they played like a team that was looking out for each other, distributing 23 assists on 33 baskets. They missed the connection on a couple more potential slams, including that Trimble/Wilson mixup and another errant lob. But even a head coach who constantly emphasizes taking care of the basketball couldn't be too angry about his team trying to create even more easy baskets.
"Sometimes we overshared," Davis said. "And that is a good problem to have."
Dunks aren't everything.
They aren't even much of anything.
But they are something.
And so it matters that the Tar Heels slammed it home eleven times in Monday's 94-54 season-opening victory over Central Arkansas. The official box score credits Carolina with ten; that shortchanges them one Caleb Wilson follow slam off a Henri Veesaar miss that was classified as a "tip-in."
The Tar Heels made 23 two-point field goals in this game. You can probably do the math yourself—that means nearly half of them involved rim contact.
It was fun to watch. All seven of Wilson's two-point baskets were dunks, which he executed in a variety of styles that included:
Off two feet in traffic.
Off a lob with two hands.
Off a lob in the half court.
On the offensive glass.
Driving the baseline with a ferocious two-handed finish.
Off an inbounds play and getting off the floor faster than anyone on defense could react to slam it through with one hand.
Punctuating a full 94-foot Carolina fast break off a blocked shot.
After the game, Wilson's litany of dunks were being recounted to Carolina head coach Hubert Davis. The happy head coach shook his head in amazement and then said, "And he even left some on the table!"
Which he did. Wilson missed a second half dunk that appeared he tried to dunk it too hard—when the freshman jams, he doesn't softly drop it through the rim—and then missed out on perhaps the most spectacular play of the night when both he and Seth Trimble were cleared for takeoff to receive a lob from Kyan Evans but both thought the pass was intended for them. Instead of a highlight reel, it turned into a missed opportunity—one of the very few in the entire game.
The play can be excused for one simple reason: how nice is it to have multiple players capable of running the floor and finishing at the rim, even if they don't execute it perfectly every time? Carolina is a talented, athletic, explosive team. There was no better example of it than a signature play with 4:30 remaining. Veesaar wrestled away a blocked shot from Central Arkansas. He fired to Jaydon Young on an outlet pass. Young had to save the ball near the sideline and lofted a hit-ahead pass to Seth Trimble ahead of the defense.
The pass was just a touch ahead of Trimble, so he tracked it down near the baseline and instinctively flipped it behind his back to Wilson, who finished it—you probably already knew this—with a dunk. It was the kind of uptempo, relentless play that makes you excited to watch more Carolina Basketball this year.
"We shared the ball really well," Veesaar said. "And when we get stops it's easy to run. We were able to get quickly to offense and execute well."
The 2024-25 Tar Heels had nine dunks in the first three games of the season, 120 minutes of game action.
This year's Heels clocked 11 dunks in just the first 37 minutes of Monday's game, several of the get out of your seat variety. The must-see factor is very high with this year's team. There will be days they have to win by putting the ball in the basket from greater distance. But just the ability to have a night like Monday tells you something about the way this team is constructed.
You know what you didn't see on Monday? Dribbling while the shot clock ticked down, then hoisting a three-pointer over the outstretched arm of a defender. There's no need when you can simply attack the rim with multiple weapons. Davis likes to call it "positional size," which means the Heels are bigger all over the court.
Approaching the rim doesn't guarantee victories; flashy dunks don't get wins. But at least in the Davis era, high-percentage shots very much equal winning. Carolina shot 50.8 percent from the field against the Bears, thanks largely to the rim parade. They are now 36-1 in Davis' five seasons when hitting the 50 percent field goal mark.
Just as importantly, the Tar Heels seemed to enjoy watching each other have success, which has a way of generating point-blank baskets. Players have talked all summer about their chemistry. On Monday, they played like a team that was looking out for each other, distributing 23 assists on 33 baskets. They missed the connection on a couple more potential slams, including that Trimble/Wilson mixup and another errant lob. But even a head coach who constantly emphasizes taking care of the basketball couldn't be too angry about his team trying to create even more easy baskets.
"Sometimes we overshared," Davis said. "And that is a good problem to have."
Players Mentioned
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