The Final Book On Caleb Love

With the 2019-20 sports season now in the books, THI takes a look at the incoming freshmen that comprise North Carolina’s basketball recruiting class.

The five-member class include four McDonald’s All-Americas and another highly rated player. The class is ranked No. 3 in the nation and could add another player later this spring.

So here is a look at how each player did this season, their stats, honors, Clint Jackson’s thoughts and what UNC Coach Roy Williams said about them. Today we look at Caleb Love:

Love visited UNC on Sept. 20 and committed on Oct. 1. He was considered a Missouri lean for some time, and admitted it was very close, but Love was won over by everything Carolina on his visit.

Coached at CBC by Justin Tatum, the father of former Duke and current NBA star Jayson Tatum, Love has been compared to some former St. Louis area greats such as Larry Hughes, David Lee, Bradley Beal and Tatum.

He led CBC to a 22-8 record and appearance in the state’s Final Four before it was cancelled.

Love’s Senior Stats

26.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.6 steals.

Love’s Senior Honors

McDonald’s All-American

Jordan Brand Classic Game Nominee

Iverson Classic Game Nominee

Honorable Mention Naismith Trophy

MCC player of the year

Mr. Show-Me Basketball 2020

MBCA Class 5 Boys Player of the Year

Missouri Gatorade State Player of the Year

MaxPreps 5th-Team All-American

Caleb Love says: “He’s (Williams) real. There’s nothing fake about him. He doesn’t lie about anything. If you know Roy, you know he likes to talk a lot. And usually people that talk a lot, you can find lies or whatever. But you couldn’t find that with him. So I love that about him. He’s genuine. And he’s funny sometimes. So just the relationship I have with him.”

The big and athletic lead guard from St Louis plays at a fast pace and does a great job of being a scorer and facilitator from his position. He’ll slash, change gears on the fly, collapse the defense and crush a dunk on someone. At 6-3 or 6-4, he has great size for his position and his wingspan is a sight to see.

"People question his jumper and that is fair, but whenever I watched him, he always shot the ball fairly well, albeit streaky. Love can run things in the half-court and he loves to push in transition. As long as he learns the X’s and O’s of Roy Williams’ system quickly, Love should have a major impact as a freshman in Carolina blue.

"Caleb is another youngster who is a scoring point guard, an athletic point guard, a guy who can attack the basket and finish against bigger players. Our guys loved playing with him when he was here playing pickup. He's the kind of player that everybody who plays with him says they want him as a teammate. His parents are very education-oriented and will be wonderful supporters of our University and the basketball program."

“I never, ever, ever get caught up in recruiting rankings… I love these kids and it remains to be seen what they’ll do but I do feel really, really good about it… I just want guys that I like. We lost a couple of guys we would have liked, there’s no question about that, but I feel very comfortable with it, happy with it. Extremely happy because I also think they’re high-quality kids.

"The character that they have, they’re all characters, too. I do enjoy that part of it. Solid kids that all want to be better and all have big-time dreams and goals, individually but also have them as a team as well.”

*Clint Jackson and Jarrod Hardy contributed to this report.