Tag: Caleb Love

Duke forward Kyle Filipowski makes Naismith Trophy Midseason Team

Star 7-footer Kyle Filipowski is averaging 17.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game this season while upping his 3-point percentage to 34.5%. The production earned him some midseason recognition on the Naismith Trophy Midseason Team.

The Naismith Trophy announced its Men’s College Player of the Year Midseason Team on Thursday, and Duke forward Kyle Filipowski was one of the 30 names who made the cut.

Filipowski, a preseason All-American hopeful, is averaging 17.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game through 24 games this season, adding 2.8 assists, 1.8 blocks, and 1.1 steals to his average production. He’s shooting 49.8% from the floor and 34.5% from beyond the arc.

The Blue Devils 7-footer has scored 20 points in nine games this season, including a 30-point performance during a January win over Georgia Tech, and he’s recorded eight double-doubles.

He is currently seventh in the ACC in points per game and sixth in rebounds per game, one of just four players in the conference within the top 10 in both categories.

Three fellow ACC players made the midseason team, including Armando Bacot and RJ Davis from North Carolina and Clemson’s PJ Hall.

Former Tar Heel and eternal Duke rival Caleb Love, now playing for Arizona, also made the cutoff, as did defending Naismith Trophy winner (and presumed winner this year) Zach Edey from Purdue.

Arizona’s Caleb Love took flight on maybe the best college hoops dunk of the season

CALEB LOVE ARE YOU SERIOUS

Arizona guard Caleb Love is one of the most electric college basketball players in the country, and he might have put down the dunk of the year so far against Utah on Saturday night.

On a stunning jump from just behind the free throw line, Love leaped into the air and slammed down a basket as the broadcast crew couldn’t believe how the Arizona star pulled it off.

The former North Carolina standout has never hurt for highlights, but this might be one of the best of his career. It’s easily one of the best, if not the best, dunks of the college hoops season.

We have no idea how Love got so much air on that leap, but his finish on the dunk was as impressive as how he got there.

Arizona has to be thrilled to have Love in tow this season, and we’re all counting down the days to March when we can all enjoy Love and the Wildcats in March Madness.

Caleb Love and RJ Davis shine after Love’s departure

Caleb Love and RJ Davis shine after Love’s departure to Arizona. Both shine as top guards in the nation.

This off-season, seeing [autotag]Caleb Love[/autotag] leave was gut-wrenching, especially with his departure not being by declaring to the NBA Draft, but instead the transfer portal.

Despite leaving UNC for a new opportunity, fans never wavered, still sharing their love and support for the bouncy highlight reel, reminiscing about his Tar Heel moments. Love leaving has turned out to be the best outcome for his career and also for [autotag]RJ Davis[/autotag].

Davis’s role expanded with the departure of Love, and he answered well, showing more decisiveness with the ball in his hands. Davis is averaging 21.6 points, 3.6 assists, and 3.4 rebounds in 12 games played this season. He’s been on a hot scoring streak of 20 points or more in eight straight games, with his last performance making UNC history.

On the flip side, Love has found his groove in Arizona, averaging 16.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists. Arizona has leaped to new heights this season, and Love is a big reason why, bringing his clutch shooting to the desert. Earlier this season, Love returned to NC to own Duke once again and let it be known that he was a “Tar Heel 4L (for life)”.

At the moment, both programs look like they could be a contender for the National Championship, so there’s a chance we see these two teams face off down the road.

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Caleb Love wishes the best for North Carolina in recent interview

UNC basketball guard Caleb Love still has love for his old teammates and the Tar Heels program.

The time period between April of 2022 to April of 2023 was a wild one for the North Carolina Tar Heels. They were coming off a big upset win over Duke in the Final Four and had a double-digit lead at halftime over Kansas in the National Championship Game.

But North Carolina blew that lead and then failed to reach the NCAA Tournament after being ranked as the preseason No. 1 going into the 2022-23 season. That saw a mass exodus of players hit the transfer portal including Caleb Love.

The point guard received a lot of hate for his play in his junior season and he ultimately ended up transferring to Arizona after Michigan denied his acceptance. Love is fitting in well with the Wildcats, the No. 1 team in the country right now. And as they continue to play well, Love talked to Fox Sports’ John Fanta about his breakup with UNC. He had nothing but great things to say about the Tar Heels:

“That was a crazy statement, I’m not going to lie,” Love said. “Just the way he worded it – but, I love ‘Mando. I miss him. I’m still rooting for every single one of those dudes, even the ones who transferred into the program. I’m still rooting for them. I’m still tapped into those guys, and I try to stay in touch when I can. I wish the best for North Carolina.”

As Armando Bacot mentioned in an interview last month, the team and players still have love for Caleb. The guard will always be remembered for hitting one of the biggest shots in program history to beat Duke in that Final Four.

While Love is finding success with his new team, the Tar Heels are looking to get back to having a successful season of their own.

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Former UNC basketball player Caleb Love reaches milestone

Former UNC basketball player Caleb Love has reached a career milestone by scoring his 1,500th point.

Former North Carolina Tar Heels’ guard Caleb Love reached a big milestone for his career. After spending three seasons with the Tar Heels, Love opted to transfer out and landed in Arizona with the Wildcats.

As he continues his career out in the desert, Love has already made some headlines in just three games. First, he helped the Wildcats upset then No. 2 Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium, which made UNC fans happy. And now, he reached a milestone.

During Arizona’s big win over Southern University on Monday night, Love hit the 1,500-point mark for his career. He finished the game with 9 points in the win.

While Love is struggling to shoot the ball early in his Arizona career, he is making an impact with his new team. He’s a player that has struggled in his career before but has also shown that he can turn it on at any point too.

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Caleb Love says he’s a ‘Tar Heel for life’ after beating Duke

Former UNC basketball guard Caleb Love says he’s a Tar Heel for life after Arizona beat Duke.

After three seasons with North Carolina, guard Caleb Love and the program made the difficult decision to part ways. He transferred to Arizona.

On Friday night, Love and the Wildcats had the support from Tar Heels when Arizona went into Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on Duke. The Wildcats came out victorious. Love scored 11 points, including four big free throws late to seal it.

Following the game, Love was asked about UNC: He wrote a message to the program on his shoes. And Love offered up the perfect answer when asked if he talked to his former teammates before the game:

“Yeah I talked to a few of ‘em. They told me to handle business and get the win,” Love said via Travon Miles. “I’m a Tar Heel for life, that’s just what it is.”

Now, that is awesome to hear.

Despite the transfer away from UNC, Love is a Tar Heel and Friday night proved that again. Winning against Duke on Friday made Love 3-1 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in his career and also drew the praise of Tar Heels fans again.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

UNC basketball fans react to Caleb Love, Arizona beating Duke

UNC basketball fans reacted to Caleb Love beating Duke again but this time with Arizona.

The North Carolina Tar Heels men’s basketball program didn’t play on Friday night. It awaits Sunday’s matchup with Lehigh. But that didn’t stop fans from celebrating another win by a former player.

Guard Caleb Love and No. 12 Arizona went into Cameron Indoor Stadium and upset No. 2 Duke on Friday night. Love improved to 3-1 in his career at Duke. But this time, he did it for the Wildcats, making his first trip to Durham since transferring.

When he was introduced pregame, Love heard the boos. But he gained the last laugh with the win and by scoring 11 points, including four big free throws down the stretch.

Here is how North Carolina basketball fans reacted as they were rooting for a former player taking down Duke.

 

Social media reacts to Caleb Love’s Tar Heel shoes vs. Duke

Social media reacts to Arizona’s Caleb Love wearing “Tar Heel 4L” shoe ahead of his return to Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on Duke.

The UNC men’s basketball team might not be playing Friday night, but fans are tuned in to college hoops. Former Tar Heel [autotag]Caleb Love[/autotag] is taking on the Duke Blue Devils.

Mixed emotions were produced by the sight of Love warming up to take on Duke, a team he has sent packing with a moment in the history books. This time, he is in Arizona Wildcats gear. Love, known for his versatility in shoes, rocked some Nikes with a light blue swoosh with the words “I’m Tar Heel 4L” written on his bottom shoe.

The iconic photo taken by Tar Heel Tribune reporter R.L. Bynum, took social media by storm. The photo was shared all over the X platform as media outlets and personalities shared the photo. College hoops fans got in on the action, expressing their feelings about the shoe.

Let us look at how social media reacted to Love’s “Tar Heel 4L” shoe.

Hunter Dickinson and the top-50 players who used the NCAA men’s basketball transfer portal

We have a handful of former five-star recruits in the portal.

It is hard to overstate the importance of the transfer portal in college sports.

Although roster continuity is one of the keys to success in March Madness, it’s also incredibly helpful for some programs to use the transfer portal to find ready-to-play contributors.

More than 1,600 men’s college basketball players used the transfer portal last season and some of the players who appeared on last year’s edition of this list (e.g. Creighton’s Baylor Scheierman) played impactful minutes in the NCAA men’s tournament. Several important players in the Final Four (like Miami’s Jordan Miller and Nijel Pack or UConn’s Tristen Newton) were transfers.

Below, we highlighted some of the most notable names in the transfer portal.

We used data from our good friends at Cerebro Sports — you can create a free account to evaluate player performance across all levels globally. Their C-RAM metric grades players on a scale from 0 to 10+ based on their overall performance.

This story references projected impact metrics provided by EvanMiya.com. BPR values are interpreted as the expected points per 100 possessions better than a D1 average player while on the floor.

We have also included projected impact metrics from BartTorvik.com, which you can view here and learn more about it here.

Additionally, NBA likelihood percentages are provided by Nick Kalinowski. You can learn more about the metric here.

You can see a full list of the available players if you click here and you can also check out our rankings for the women’s college basketball transfer portal as well.

Twitter reacts to Caleb Love committing to Arizona

Twitter reacts to Caleb Love leaving the transfer portal to play for the Arizona Wildcats.

The [autotag]Caleb Love[/autotag] saga is officially over. The former Tar Heel announced his decision to join the Arizona Wildcats.

This college basketball offseason has been one to remember, with the transfer portal bringing and spitting out significant talent. One of the bigger shocks to enter the transfer portal was Love; many fans thought it would be another year at UNC or NBA bound.

Love caught major attention in the portal before announcing he would be Wolverine. Well, that lasted as long as the night before Christmas, with Love hitting the portal for a second time due to rumored admission issues.

Many thought that meant Love would be a lock for Missouri, his home state, or Indiana, which had shown interest in the star guard the first time in the portal. No one expected Love to lace up for Arizona, which elicited quite the reaction when he announced the next stop on his journey.

There’s no denying Love is an elite guard who can flip the switch in an instant. However, the move to Arizona is an intriguing play.

Let’s look at how Twitter reacted to Love joining the Wildcats.