North Carolina’s Armando Bacot will return to the school in 2022-23 and attempt to help the Tar Heels get back to the national title game. Photo by Maggie Hobson/UNC Athletics
April 13 (UPI) — North Carolina center Armando Bacot, who helped the Tar Heels reach the men’s basketball National Championship game, plans to return next season instead of entering the NBA Draft, he announced Wednesday on social media.
Bacot broke the news with a video posted to his Twitter and Instagram accounts. The 6-foot-10, 240-pound junior averaged a team-high 16.3 points and 13.1 rebounds last season. He totaled 15 points and 15 rebounds in the Tar Heels’ title game loss to Kansas on April 4 in New Orleans.
“The University of North Carolina has been great to me,” Bacot said. “Getting the full Tar Heel experience with fans, big wins and celebrations is something I will never forget. The chance I received to wear the North Carolina jersey and play for that name on the front is special to me.”
Bacot said he can’t wait until the day he can return to campus as an alumni and play with future Tar Heel players, but he “isn’t ready to do that just yet.”
“This year’s experience showed me I don’t want to miss the chance to do it again next season,” Bacot said. “On the court, we got so close this year. I know there are no guarantees, but I want the opportunity to play in those big games, to keep Carolina on the national stage and to have the chance to do what coach Hubert Davis has talked about since his first day on the job: to put another banner in the Smith Center.
“My Carolina story isn’t finished just yet. Next season starts right now. My name is Armando Bacot and I’m a Tar Heel.”
Bacot, who was projected as a second-round pick or to go unselected in the 2022 NBA Draft, ranked third in the nation in rebounds per game this season, behind only Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe and Utah Valley’s Fardaws Aimaq.
He averaged 15.3 points and 16.5 rebounds per game through the NCAA tournament, but was hampered by an ankle injury down the stretch.
Bacot’s 511 rebounds last season set the school record. His 99 rebounds in the NCAA tournament ranked second all-time, behind the 102 grabbed in 1954 by LaSalle’s Tom Gola.
His 31 double-doubles tied the NCAA record, set in 1985-86 by former Navy and NBA star David Robinson.
Bacot was selected on Tuesday as a member of the 2022 Academic All-ACC team. He was previously named the recipient of North Carolina’s Athletic Director’s Scholar-Athlete Award and made the fall Dean’s List.
