Caleb Love is back in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in his college basketball career. There's just one difference about his trip to the big dance in 2024. He won't be wearing Carolina blue anymore.
Love is now with Arizona, transferring there after spending three seasons at UNC. He enjoyed the best season of his career there, averaging a career-high 18.1 points per game with 4.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists while leading the Wildcats to a Pac-12 regular season title.
Now, he will look to take them on a deep NCAA Tournament run, something he couldn't achieve during the 2023 season with North Carolina.
Love's transfer from UNC to Arizona marked an important shift in the college basketball landscape. It wasn't without its issues either, as he originally was going to play at Michigan before being forced to make an 11th-hour switch to Arizona.
Here's what to know about what caused Love's transfer and how he ultimately landed in the desert in search of the Wildcats' first March Madness title since 1997.
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Why did Caleb Love transfer from UNC to Arizona?
Love announced that he was transferring on March 27, 2023, just 18 days after UNC's loss to Virginia in the ACC Tournament.
"I’ve taken some time with my family to re-evaluate what’s best for me to continue to grow as a player and I’ve decided to enter the transfer portal to continue my journey," he said in a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter).
with love, the journey continues…🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/hnVddUAbo3
— Caleb Love (@caleb2love) March 27, 2023Love's decision to leave UNC was related to the team's struggles during the 2022-23 season. He didn't mesh well with his backcourt mate RJ Davis, and that caused offensive inefficiencies. Love averaged just 2.8 assists per game — the lowest mark of his career — while UNC posted its worst assist total since the stat was first recorded in 1968-69, per The Athletic.
Overall, UNC went just 20-13 a year after finishing as the NCAA Tournament's runner-up. Love took the brunt of the blame for the team's inconsistency and inability to make it into March Madness in 2023, souring his relationship with UNC fans.
Once it became clear that UNC would be running it back in 2023-24 with center Armando Bacot and Davis, who announced he was returning on March 25, 2023, it became clear that transferring would be in Love's best interest. He needed a fresh start and to find a better fit for his skillset.
Originally, Love planned to transfer to Michigan, but he wasn't able to transfer over all his college credits. That forced him to reopen his recruitment, and he eventually landed at Arizona.
Why did Love choose Arizona after the Michigan experiment failed? It was all about his relationship with Wildcats assistant coach Steve Robinson.
"He recruited me out of high school and he was my main recruiter for North Carolina," Love said, per News 4 Tuscon. "He was another main recruiter in this Arizona decision. Him being here just gave me comfort. Just knowing that he was here and he had my best interests at heart."
Love also expressed excitement about operating in Tommy Lloyd's offense with the Wildcats. He felt that going to Arizona would allow him to play off the ball a bit more to better round out his skill set.
"My movement off the ball, that's going to be the biggest jump I have," he said. "I kind of had the ball in my hands a lot in North Carolina. With the guys we have, I don't have to have the ball in my hands as much."
Love said he was focused on growing as a player, so it's no surprise that he wanted to take on a different challenge. Arizona provided him with that, so the pairing made sense and has thrived this season.
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Caleb Love stats at Arizona
Love is one of Arizona's best players. He leads their team in scoring with 18.1 points per game and shares the ball well, averaging 3.4 assists per game.
Below is a look at his full stats for the 2023-24 college basketball season and where he ranks in each category among his Arizona teammates.
| Stat | Per game | Team rank |
| Minutes | 32.0 | 1st |
| Points | 18.1 | 1st |
| Rebounds | 4.7 | 3rd |
| Assists | 3.4 | 3rd |
| Steals | 1.1 | 2nd |
| Blocks | 0.3 | 4th |
Love's shooting percentages of 42.1 from the field and 34.7 from behind the arc aren't elite, but they have been good enough considering that he is a high-volume scoring option. He should remain a consistent scoring threat throughout the NCAA Tournament, provided that UNC doesn't go ice cold at any point.
HISTORY OF UPSETS BY SEED:
16 vs. 1 | 15 vs. 2 | 14 vs. 3 | 13 vs. 4 | 12 vs. 5
Caleb Love stats at UNC
Love was a steady producer in his three years at UNC. The former five-star recruit made an impact as a starter during his freshman season and continued in that role throughout his time with the Tar Heels.
Love's best season at UNC came during the 2021-22 campaign, during which he helped lead the Tar Heels to the Final Four. He regressed a bit during his last season, but he's bounced back nicely in Arizona.
Here's a look at Love's year-by-year numbers with the Tar Heels.
| Season | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks |
| 2020-21 | 27.7 | 10.5 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 1.2 | 0.3 |
| 2021-22 | 34.2 | 15.9 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 0.9 | 0.3 |
| 2022-23 | 35.7 | 16.7 | 3.7 | 2.8 | 1.1 | 0.2 |
Love's completed just 36 percent of his shots at UNC while enjoying a success rate of 31.7 percent from 3-point range. That means that his shooting numbers at Arizona, while far from gaudy, are marked improvements from his first three college seasons.
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