Caleb Love has long been a polarizing player in college basketball. At North Carolina, he was a scapegoat — celebrated for his clutch performances and criticized for inefficiency and shot selection.
Now at Arizona, his teammates have stepped up to defend his name after his final game as a Wildcat, making it clear that his impact extended far beyond the box score.
When UA players took the podium for the postgame press conference after their Sweet 16 loss to Duke, one of Love’s teammates shifted the conversation from Duke’s Cooper Flagg to praising Love.
“But I want to answer the same question about Caleb because I just want to say something,” Arizona center Henri Veesaar told reporters. “If anybody ever thinks he’s not a good teammate, it’s not true. He’s the best teammate we had. He’s one of the better persons I’ve ever met. He’s pushed me so much over the last two years, I’m so grateful for him.”
But before his two seasons at Arizona, Love’s career at North Carolina was overshadowed by criticism — many blaming him as the primary reason for the Tar Heels’ struggles.
In his final season at UNC, Love averaged 16.7 points per game, the highest mark during his time in Chapel Hill. However, his inefficiency became a concern, as he shot just 29.9% from 3-point land while attempting 7.4 triples per game.
As UNC’s offense struggled, the narrative surrounding Love was that he prioritized his own shots over team success.
Love had several big games in UNC’s run to the championship game — which included a 30-point performance against UCLA in the Sweet 16 and a 28-point effort versus Duke in the Final Four.
In the 2022 national title game versus Kansas, Love shot a low-percentage 3-point attempt to send the game into OT on a busted play. UNC fell 72-69 to Kansas.
Despite playing through an ankle injury, Love’s 5-for-24 shooting performance, which included 4-for-18 in the second half and 1-for-8 from beyond the arc overall became a lasting memory for many UNC fans.
Fast forward three years, and the perception of Love as a shot-chucker and ball hog has faded. Love returned for a second season at Arizona to improve his off-ball skillset, something he recognized before going pro.
“Mainly moving off the ball, a lot of catch-and-shoots and playing off the catch,” Love said before this season on ESPN. “I’ve been watching a lot of Steph Curry this summer, especially when he was in the Olympics, using the shot-fake, things like that to create offense not only for himself but for his teammates as well. Using shooting gravity and pulling guys away to make my teammates better.”
And now, he has channeled that fiery energy to support and uplift his teammates.
“In the tournament, I was struggling, he talked to me,” Veesaar said. “He came up to me after I missed the free throw because we had been — he made me practice free throws after that game. After that he just came up to me, hey, we worked way too hard, you got this. After that I didn’t miss a free throw, I made seven in a row.
“I just want to set the record straight. For any scouts or anybody who thinks he’s not a good teammate, he’s the best person. Everybody loves him on the team. There’s no problems with him. The best person we have.”
Veesaar’s comments push back against any lingering skepticism about Love’s leadership, and he wasn’t alone in defending his teammate.
“He’s a fighter,” freshman forward Carter Bryant told reporters. “No disrespect, but no matter what the media says about that man, people have drug his name through the mud, people have talked the worst ways about him. For him to be the man he is — to be a standup guy and be the great person he is and go out with a performance like that, you can’t ask for much more.”
Love went down swinging against No. 1 Duke and stood toe-to-toe with Flagg. The senior guard poured in a season-high 35 points and shot 11-for-21 from the field and knocked down five of his 11 3-point attempts in 40 minutes.
In his final season with Arizona, Love tallied 17.2 points 4.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, shooting 39.8% from the field and 34% from beyond the arc in 37 games.
“Caleb is a great person, and he’s been through a lot,” Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd told reporters. “I hope everybody takes a step back, whether they’ve been a hater or whatever or pile on, and give this guy a real chance because he’s special.
“This is what I know. When he gets there, the right team is going to wrap their arms around him and they’re going to see they’ve got a guy who’s been through it. Been through it, and he’s come out the other side of it better.”