UNC's Armando Bacot gets to the rim for a layup. There is a time and a place.
The big man from the Tar Heels will return for his senior season, cementing him in the discussion for the Wooden Award.
I want to do it again next season because of the experience this year. In a video posted to social media Wednesday, Bacot said that he wants to play in the big games. To keep Carolina on that national stage and to have the chance to do what coach Hubert Davis has talked about since his first day on the job: put another banner in the Smith Center.
My Carolina story is not finished yet. Next season starts now.
Bacot earned first-team All-ACC honors as a junior and is coming off a dominant season. He ranked third in the country with a 13.1 rebound rate. He ranked in the top 25 nationally by shooting 56.9% from the field.
He became the first player in NCAA tournament history to have six double-doubles in a single game. In the six games he played, he averaged 15.3 points and 16.5 rebound, with 20 points and 22 rebound in the Elite Eight win over Saint Peter's, and 15 points and 15 rebound in the title game against Kansas.
Bacot had ankle injuries at the end of the Final Four games against Duke and Kansas.
Bacot was not projected to be selected in the NBA draft, despite the fact that he was leaning toward leaving the Tar Heels.
Davis could have a top-five team in Chapel Hill.
Brady Manek was not eligible to play for Carolina. The NCAA granted every player an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-impacted 2020-21 season, so Leaky Black can return as a senior. R.J. Davis is expected to return to Carolina for another season, even though he could test the NBA draft waters.
Three of the four four-star prospects are in Carolina's recruiting class. The Tar Heels are in the running for G.G. Jackson, who could choose to reclassify and enroll in college next fall.
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