Wilson Named To Naismith Defensive Player Of The Year Watch List

North Carolina freshman forward Caleb Wilson is one of 25 players on the 2026 Naismith Men’s College Defensive Player of the Year Watch List, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced on Thursday.

Wilson, a 6-10 forward from Atlanta, leads the Tar Heels in blocked shots (28), steals (32) and defensive rebounds (139) this season. He has started all 20 UNC games this season, averaging 19.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per contest.

He is one of five Atlantic Coast Conference players on the list.

The full watch list is below.

Full Name	Year	position	school	Conference
Flory Bidunga	Sophomore	forward	Kansas	Big 12
Cameron Boozer	Freshman	forward	duke	ACC
Kylan Boswell	Senior	guard	Illinois	Big Ten
Jaden Bradley	Senior	guard	Arizona	Big 12
Maliq Brown	Senior	forward	duke	ACC
Javontae Campbell	Senior	guard	Bowling Green	MAC
Rueben Chinyelu	Junior	Center	Florida	SEC
Somto Cyril	Sophomore	Center	Georgia	SEC
Silas Demary Jr.	Junior	guard	UConn	BIG EAST
Zuby Ejiofor	Senior	forward	St. John’s	BIG EAST
Kyle Evans	Senior	forward	UC Irvine	Big West
Zvonimir Ivisic	Junior	Center	Illinois	Big Ten
Joshua Jefferson	Senior	forward	Iowa State	Big 12
Jaquan Johnson	Sophomore	guard	Bradley	MVC
Keba Keita	Senior	forward	BYU	Big 12
William Kyle III	Senior	forward	Syracuse	ACC
Yaxel Lendeborg	Graduate Student	forward	Michigan	Big Ten
Tamin Lipsey	Senior	guard	Iowa State	Big 12
Aday Mara	Junior	Center	Michigan	Big Ten
Duke Miles	Graduate Student	guard	Vanderbilt	SEC
Tarris Reed Jr.	Senior	Center	UConn	BIG EAST
Tyler Tanner	Sophomore	guard	Vanderbilt	SEC
Joseph Tugler	Junior	forward	Houston	Big 12
Ernest Udeh Jr.	Senior	Center	Miami	ACC
Caleb Wilson	Freshman	forward	North Carolina	ACC