Five-star forward Caleb Wilson is among the cream of the crop even amongst the top prospects in the 2025 class. Standing almost 6’10”, Wilson possesses an intriguing combination of size, length and ball skills, which offer just a glimpse of his immense long-term upside and pro potential. This past summer, the rising junior averaged 16.9 points, 9.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.9 blocks, and 1.8 steals over eight contests for Georgia Stars (GA) playing up at the Peach Invitational Tournament (PIT), showcasing his versatility on both ends. There is still plenty of time before a post-high school decision will need to be made, however, Wilson will have no shortage of college blue blood options and alternative routes to choose from.
In this interview with Pro Insight’s Conrad Chow, Wilson talked about his strengths and growth as a player, his recruitment update including schools he hopes to visit in the near future, his interest in world history, using his platform to impact others, and much more.
For the next installment of the Pro Insight Q&A series, we present 2025 prospect Caleb Wilson, from Atlanta, Georgia:
Pro Insight: How did you get to where you are today? Talk a bit about your background and family.
Caleb Wilson: My name is Caleb Wilson. I'm coming into my junior year of high school. I play the small forward position and I am a pretty good basketball player. My mom, my dad, and my sister…my sister's now just getting into basketball. My mom and my dad played in high school and my dad played one year in college, so basketball definitely had its time with our family and I played a couple more sports when I was growing up. My dad did, also. So that's really my background with sports.
PI: Any other athletes in the family?
CW: Yessir. My granddad played basketball. I have a lot of people in my family that also played football.
PI: What were some of the other sports you played growing up?
CW: I played baseball and football and I also played soccer for a little short stint, maybe a year. I was pretty good because my arms were so long (laughs). I was a great goalie.
PI: Any favorite athletes growing up as a kid?
CW: I've always liked LeBron and I also liked Curry. I like LeBron because he's just extremely athletic. It's just fun to watch. I like Steph Curry because he's a smaller guy, but he uses the mental side of the game to his advantage.
PI: Who do you model your game after or study on film?
CW: I don't really model myself after anyone. I watch a lot of film on different guys I like. I watch a lot of Jayson Tatum film because I like how he works out of the mid-post and the wing because I feel like that's something I would do in today's game, and so I watch a lot of him, and I also watch a lot of Paul George.
PI: For those who aren’t familiar with your game, what are your greatest strengths and playstyle?
CW: I think I'm really just a playmaker. I'm able to make plays for everyone from almost all spots on the court. I think I can really do it all. I can rebound, I can pass the ball really well, which I think is my best strength. I can defend multiple positions. I can hit shots, so I don't really feel I have a way I can box myself in. I just feel like I'm a player who can guard one-through-five, guard the best player on the team. When I’m on the offensive end, come through when we need a bucket and get everybody else open.
PI: Do you prefer to play more inside or outside?
CW: I like playing more outside, because it allows me to see the floor more and make easier decisions and better decisions.
PI: What are your current measurements?
CW: I’m 6’9.5”. I have a 7’0” wingspan and I’m 205 pounds.
PI: What do you feel you still need to improve on the most? What have you been working on?
CW: Right now I'm working on my shooting because I feel like since I want to play on the wing, I feel like you have to be a knockdown shooter for them to even consider you at that spot, especially at my height. So I've really been working on it, getting to the rim and finishing through contact because physicality is something that's going to be coming. So for me, I want to reach the college level and the highest level of high school basketball, which is EYBL 17s again next year, so really just finishing at the rim through physicality and shooting.
PI: Describe this past AAU season with the Georgia Stars.
CW: It was extremely fun. I was able to meet a lot of new people. Obviously, we didn't win many games, but I learned a whole bunch and I was able to showcase what I could do, which was my goal for this year. Next year, I really want to win and I'm going to win games, but this year was more of a year to show everybody what I can do from a performance standpoint and so I feel like I accomplished that. I wish we would have won more games, of course, because winning is definitely important to me. But I feel like I got what I wanted to get accomplished and I had fun with the guys on my team, and I was able to build relationships with my coaches and put my name out there a lot.
PI: How did you handle the adversity of losses?
CW: It’s something that I saw Kobe say in an interview. He was saying something like, “Get over yourself.” Like, you're probably thinking about something that happened but nobody else is, but you're harping on it because you feel like you're such a big guy or you're so important, but in reality, it's just like, “get over yourself. It's another game. There’s something else that you could be doing. Just get over yourself and keep moving.”
PI: What are your short term goals you have for yourself as a player?
CW: I definitely want to win Region Player of the Year. I want to win Class 4A Player of the Year, which is the classification I’m in for my school, and I also want to win Mr. Georgia Basketball, Gatorade Player of the Year. Also I want to say this is short term but I also want to make the McDonald's All-American Game. That's been a goal of mine since I began in high school. Really, I just really want to win the state championship. That's really what I want this year. That's my main goal.
PI: What is your recruitment update? Who have you been hearing from the most, lately?
CW: Tennessee has been hitting me up the most. They have Coach Rick Barnes there, he coached KD in Texas so they think I'm pretty close to him, not skillset wise, but they think I can measure up to being how good KD is now. So I would say Tennessee has been hitting me up the most.
PI: Have you had a dream school growing up?
CW: I didn't really have a dream school, which is why it's so easy for me to say now that I just want a school that believes in me and trusts me to help them win, of course. And I want to play as a freshman. So like one of those things would guarantee, I would definitely go to a school that is allowing me to do those things.
PI: How did it feel to receive official offers from the blue bloods?
CW: It was definitely pretty exciting. I was happy for a second. Then I realized it's just like a bigger target on my back. I have to realize that everybody wants what I have, so everybody's gonna kind of come and try to take it. So it just makes me work harder and makes me get on my horse to grind everyday and just understand it's nowhere near the finish line.
PI: Which schools are you hoping to visit in the near future?
CW: I want to see Oregon, actually. I want to see every blue blood school that I have… Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, and Stanford are some main ones right now.
PI: You also hold a 4.0 GPA — what is your favorite subject?
CW: My favorite subject is history. I really like it because it really does repeat itself, because I think that humans, we all have a subconscious that makes us do the same things over and over again. If we're put in the same situations, I feel like most of the time we'll act the same way. So I really like to see people's reactions to things, like why wars are started and things like that.
PI: Is there any particular history topic or era that you’ve liked studying?
CW: I really liked learning about the start of Mesopotamia. I really liked learning about that because I've always wondered where we started from as a civilization.
PI: What are your biggest interests outside of basketball?
CW: I’d probably say I watch a lot of Netflix. I like to watch TV shows in my spare time. That's something I really like to do, so I guess that's a hobby.
PI: What shows are you watching on Netflix?
CW: Stranger Things. I can't wait for that new season to come up.
PI: Who are your favorite music artists?
CW: Lucky [Daye] is my favorite music artist.
PI: You have one hashtag to describe yourself. What is it?
CW: #JustDidntQuit. I really just didn't quit because I wasn't really respected by anyone coming into high school. I was really not known and through my elementary school basketball career, I wasn’t the best player, so I just didn't quit and kept grinding.
PI: If you woke up tomorrow to see a fortune in your bank account, what would be your first purchase?
CW: Probably just a car like a regular car. That would probably be it.
PI: If you weren’t pursuing a career as a professional hooper, what do you think you would choose to do?
CW: I think I would do something business-related because I feel like it would allow me to have a leniency of what I do in my life because I feel like if you were in something like the stock market or something like that, you won’t have to devote your whole life to it once you learn and get running, you'll be able to spend more time with your family and things like that. So something business-related.
PI: Who’s someone you really look up to?
CW: Probably Kobe. Kobe or Eric Thomas.
PI: What’s your biggest pet peeve?
CW: Okay, so on the basketball court, it would be selfishness — like people not wanting to share the ball or do the right thing; but off the basketball court I would just say people trying to act like they know me as a person, that really can get on my nerves sometimes.
PI: Are you an introvert or extrovert?
CW: I'm definitely introverted — I like staying inside, being by myself.
PI: What is something that most people have no idea about you?
CW: Let's see…okay, so when I was younger, I used to play Madden a lot, like the football game Madden, and so at one point I was ranked like the top percentile you can be in the online games, but I actually thought I was going to become a professional video gamer because like I said before, I didn't think I was really going to be good like that at basketball, but I was really good at Madden — so that’s something most people don’t know.
PI: What is your dream NIL deal and why?
CW: My dream NIL deal is definitely with Chick-fil-A, because I eat it every single day.
PI: What is your go-to meal?
CW: Definitely a #1 and a kid’s meal on the side.
PI: Where do you see yourself in five years?
CW: I see myself as an NBA player doing well, doing what I need to do to help my team win.
PI: Name four words that best describe you.
CW: Introvert, scholar, hooper, and family.
PI: At the end of the day, what do you hope to be remembered for?
CW: As a player, I just want to be remembered as someone who inspired a lot of people because I feel like that's what the purpose for me is here on Earth because I feel like if you do everything just for yourself, it's never going to end well so I just want to be someone who inspires a lot of people. As a person, I want to be someone who has helped a lot of people and brought happiness to a lot of people because I really don't want to be remembered as someone who nobody really liked or anything like that. I want to be remembered as a bright spirit, a bright soul.
PI: How do you plan to use your platform to benefit others?
CW: I thought about housing projects, because at this point a lot of people are having trouble with getting houses and staying in them. There have been a lot of evictions, especially here in Atlanta. So I was thinking about housing projects to help people — partner with somebody to get that going and maybe food drives, things like that.