CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Armando Bacot will play a fifth season at North Carolina. The two-time First-Team All-ACC big man, holder of the school’s all-time rebounding and double-double records, announced Wednesday that he’s going to return to UNC for 2023-24.
“I’m using my last year of eligibility.” Bacot told Stadium. “I felt it was the right decision for my future. … The primary reason I am coming back is because I don’t want to leave North Carolina this way. But I also know I need to improve and feel like this is the best place to do that.”
Bacot averaged 15.9 points and 10.4 rebounds this past season, earning Associated Press Third-Team All-American honors, but it was a difficult year for Bacot and the team.
Amid one of UNC’s worst three-point shooting seasons in program history, Bacot was the main focus of opponents’ defenses and he was regularly double- and triple-teamed in the post as defenders sagged off Carolina’s perimeter shooters. Multiple times throughout the 2022-23 season, Bacot fought through injuries. He turned his right ankle against Alabama in November, bruised his shoulder against Indiana, which forced him to miss the Virginia Tech game, and then he turned his left ankle in the first few minutes at Virginia and missed the rest of the game. Bacot turned his left ankle again in the ACC Tournament opener against Boston College, rendering him ineffective in the loss to Virginia the following day.
Throughout UNC’s highly disappointing 2022-23 campaign, which began with a No. 1 ranking and ended without an NCAA Tournament invite, Bacot was the most outspoken member of the team in interviews.
“We’ve got the talent to do it — we came back for a reason, and this isn’t it,” Bacot said after a blowout loss at Wake Forest in February. “I love this university too much, and I love the game of basketball too much to quit … I’m not sitting here saying I’m perfect either, because I do mess up, too. But I want to win. And that’s all I care about. That’s all I want to do … Losing sucks. I mean, like I said, I hate it. I mean, I get sleepless nights just thinking about it because that’s all I want to do.”
Bacot has become a national headliner in the Name, Image and Likeness era, securing a wide range of NIL deals while earning Academic All-ACC honors as a student at UNC’sKenan-Flagler Business School. His business partnerships include an energy supplement, seafood restaurant, tech consulting firm, finance app, local burger joint, activewear brand, car wash chain, horse-racing farm, famous sports card brand, national coffee company, popular toy name, and an acting role on the leading streaming service.
“NIL has allowed me to do so much,” Bacot told Inside Carolina. “I got to be on Outer Banks (the Netflix show), I’ve been able to meet so many amazing partners, but I think one of my favorite things has been using my platform to give back. I partnered with the MeFine foundation in Raleigh and that has been one of the most impactful things I have done. They help families who are dealing with crippling medical expenses as a result of their child’s medical crisis. I have been able to visit the kids in the hospital and help raise funds. I am so thankful NIL has allowed me to do that.”
