NCAA Basketball: 10 best players from state of Missouri of last decade
By Joey Loose
7. Caleb Love – North Carolina
A five-star recruit and talented prospect, Love is a 6’4 guard from St. Louis who found his way to the east coast. Two seasons ago, he arrived on campus at North Carolina, playing his freshman year under legendary coach Roy Williams. This past year was the program’s first under Hubert Davis, but both Love and the Tar Heels had pretty outstanding seasons in the process.
Love was a solid piece on a decent Tar Heels squad, scoring his season-high 25 points in a road win at Duke. For this sophomore season, things went significantly better, as he averaged 15.9 points and 3.6 assists per game for a North Carolina team that advanced all the way to the national title game as an 8-seed. Love was a big part of that, scoring 30 points in the Sweet Sixteen against UCLA and 28 points in their legendary defeat of rival Duke in the Final Four.
One of the conference’s most effective offensive pieces, Love clearly played a major role on this team. He was named ACC All-Freshman in his first season, while his breakthrough performance in the Big Dance earned him All-Tournament honors as well. He’s part of a crew of talent returning to Chapel Hill next season, setting the Tar Heels up as one of the certain favorites to cut down the nets in 2023.