University of North Carolina Athletics
Caleb Wilson (left) & Henri Veesaar (right) hope to become Carolina's latest NBA first-round picks.
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Wilson & Veesaar Looking Forward To NBA Draft
June 22, 2026 | Men's Basketball
Caleb Wilson & Henri Veesaar hope to hear their names called and formally begin their professional careers.
The 2026 NBA Draft begins on Tuesday night, and Tar Heels Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar both hope to hear their names called in the first round.Â
The 30-team draft will take place over two nights in New York City, with the first round on Tuesday and the second on Wednesday. Both nights' rounds will begin at 8 p.m. ET. ABC and ESPN both will televise the first round live on Tuesday, with just ESPN carrying the second round on Wednesday.
Wilson, Carolina's All-America freshman phenom, is widely expected to be selected in the opening handful of picks. Veesaar is seen as a potential first round pick as well.
ESPN college basketball and NBA Draft analyst Jay Bilas has called Wilson the "most dynamic athlete" available.Â
"Wilson is a ridiculous athlete who drops jaws on the floor with his talents," Bilas said. "He has a 7-0 wingspan and a 39.5-inch vertical, and does things with quick bounce. [Kansas' Darryn] Peterson, [BYU's AJ] Dybantsa, Michigan's Morez Johnson Jr. and Baylor's Cameron Carr are all super-dynamic athletes, but Wilson seems to have another step on his ladder when the ball is tipped."
The Ringer's J. Kyle Mann projects Wilson as the fourth-best prospect available. "There's a chaos to Wilson's capability, as if he himself doesn't totally know where the boundaries are," Mann wrote. "Through mid-February, only one player in college basketball had attempted and converted more dunks than he had, and his boundless energy leads to astronomical steal, block, and defensive rebound percentages."
Mann rates Veesaar the 19th-best available prospect and one of the top big men, calling him "one of the more versatile scoring bigs in the country this past year. [He] buttered his bread at the rim whenever possible but was an effective floor spacer" for Carolina.
Carolina and the NBA Draft
• Fifty-five Tar Heels have been selected in the first round of the NBA Draft, including freshman Drake Powell by Atlanta (for Brooklyn) in 2025.
• The 55 Tar Heels do not include three former UNC players who transferred and played at other schools prior to being selected in the draft.
• In total, 118 Tar Heels and three former UNC players have been selected in the NBA Draft.
• Powell was the eighth Tar Heel freshman selected in the draft, all in the first round (Marvin Williams in 2005, Brandan Wright in 2007, Tony Bradley in 2017, Coby White and Nassir Little in 2019, Cole Anthony in 2020, Day'Ron Sharpe in 2021 and Powell).
• Carolina has the third-most drafted players and third-most first-round picks in the history of the NBA Draft.
• Multiple Tar Heels have been chosen in the first round 12 times, most recently in 2019 when three Tar Heels were selected (White at No. 7, Cameron Johnson at No. 11 and Little at No. 25).Â
• The last time a Tar Heel was selected in the top five was 2005, when Williams went second to Atlanta and Raymond Felton was the fifth pick by Charlotte. Williams played 15 seasons in the NBA, while Felton played 14.
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The 30-team draft will take place over two nights in New York City, with the first round on Tuesday and the second on Wednesday. Both nights' rounds will begin at 8 p.m. ET. ABC and ESPN both will televise the first round live on Tuesday, with just ESPN carrying the second round on Wednesday.
Wilson, Carolina's All-America freshman phenom, is widely expected to be selected in the opening handful of picks. Veesaar is seen as a potential first round pick as well.
ESPN college basketball and NBA Draft analyst Jay Bilas has called Wilson the "most dynamic athlete" available.Â
"Wilson is a ridiculous athlete who drops jaws on the floor with his talents," Bilas said. "He has a 7-0 wingspan and a 39.5-inch vertical, and does things with quick bounce. [Kansas' Darryn] Peterson, [BYU's AJ] Dybantsa, Michigan's Morez Johnson Jr. and Baylor's Cameron Carr are all super-dynamic athletes, but Wilson seems to have another step on his ladder when the ball is tipped."
The Ringer's J. Kyle Mann projects Wilson as the fourth-best prospect available. "There's a chaos to Wilson's capability, as if he himself doesn't totally know where the boundaries are," Mann wrote. "Through mid-February, only one player in college basketball had attempted and converted more dunks than he had, and his boundless energy leads to astronomical steal, block, and defensive rebound percentages."
Mann rates Veesaar the 19th-best available prospect and one of the top big men, calling him "one of the more versatile scoring bigs in the country this past year. [He] buttered his bread at the rim whenever possible but was an effective floor spacer" for Carolina.
Carolina and the NBA Draft
• Fifty-five Tar Heels have been selected in the first round of the NBA Draft, including freshman Drake Powell by Atlanta (for Brooklyn) in 2025.
• The 55 Tar Heels do not include three former UNC players who transferred and played at other schools prior to being selected in the draft.
• In total, 118 Tar Heels and three former UNC players have been selected in the NBA Draft.
• Powell was the eighth Tar Heel freshman selected in the draft, all in the first round (Marvin Williams in 2005, Brandan Wright in 2007, Tony Bradley in 2017, Coby White and Nassir Little in 2019, Cole Anthony in 2020, Day'Ron Sharpe in 2021 and Powell).
• Carolina has the third-most drafted players and third-most first-round picks in the history of the NBA Draft.
• Multiple Tar Heels have been chosen in the first round 12 times, most recently in 2019 when three Tar Heels were selected (White at No. 7, Cameron Johnson at No. 11 and Little at No. 25).Â
• The last time a Tar Heel was selected in the top five was 2005, when Williams went second to Atlanta and Raymond Felton was the fifth pick by Charlotte. Williams played 15 seasons in the NBA, while Felton played 14.
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Players Mentioned
Sunday, June 21
Sunday, June 21
Saturday, June 20
Friday, June 19