Armando Linwood Bacot Jr. (born March 6, 2000) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC). He holds the program records for double-doubles and career rebounds.

High school career

Bacot attended Trinity Episcopal School for three years before transferring to

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. IMG Academy is set across over 600 acres and features programs consisting of sport camps for youth athletes, adult camps, a board ...

for his senior year.

Recruiting

Bacot was considered a five-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

and

Rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

, and a four-star recruit by

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount. The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite b ...

. On August 16, 2018, Bacot committed to playing

for

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

over offers from

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

, Villanova, and VCU.

College career

Freshman season (2019–20)

On November 20, 2019, Bacot had 22 points and 14 rebounds in a 75–61 win over Elon. He had 23 points, 12 rebounds and a season-high six blocks in a 78–74 win over

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

on November 29. In a 74–49 loss to

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

on December 4, Bacot suffered a left ankle injury and was expected to miss some time. However, he returned for the following game, a 56–47 loss to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, and scored 11 points. He sat out North Carolina's home victory against Wake Forest on March 3, 2020. As a freshman, Bacot averaged 9.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, shooting 46.9 percent from the floor. Armando also had 11 double-doubles, the second most by a Tar Heel freshman.

Sophomore season (2020–21)

As a sophomore, he averaged 12.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, shooting 62.8 percent from the floor. He was named to the Third Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). On April 6, 2021, he declared for the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA us ...

while maintaining his college eligibility. He withdrew his name from the draft pool in order to return to

Chapel Hill Chapel Hill or Chapelhill may refer to: Places Antarctica * Chapel Hill (Antarctica) Australia *Chapel Hill, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Chapel Hill, South Australia, in the Mount Barker council area Canada * Chapel Hill, Ottawa, a neighbo ...

for his junior season.

Junior season (2021–22)

On November 5, 2021, new UNC head coach

Hubert Davis Hubert Ira Davis Jr. (born May 17, 1970) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels men's team. Before his coaching career, Davis played for North Carolina from 19 ...

named Bacot as team captain alongside sophomores R. J. Davis and

Caleb Love Caleb Khristopher Love (born September 27, 2001) is an American college basketball player for the Arizona Wildcats of the Pac-12 Conference. He spent his first three seasons at North Carolina, where he was a starter and key piece of the team's 2 ...

. On January 8, 2022, Bacot posted career-highs of 29 points and 21 rebounds in a 78–54 win against Virginia. Bacot picked up 23

double-doubles In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

in the regular season, tying the UNC single-season record previously held by

Brice Johnson Jonathan Brice Johnson (born June 27, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Toyama Grouses of the B.League. He played college basketball for North Carolina, graduating in 2016. He was selected in the first round (25th pick o ...

. Bacot was a key performer in the Tar Heels' 94–81 upset over

Mike Krzyzewski Michael William Krzyzewski ( ; born February 13, 1947), nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980 to 2022, during which he led the Blue Devils to five natio ...

's final game in Cameron Indoor Stadium, scoring 23 points along with 7 rebounds. Four out of the five Tar Heel starters scored twenty-plus points in the game. Following the conclusion of the regular season, he was named First Team All-ACC, and finished runner-up the voting for ACC Player of the Year, behind Wake Forest's Alondes Williams. On March 10, 2022, Bacot recorded his 24th double-double of the season, breaking the school record of 23 that had been set by

in 2016. On March 27, 2022, Bacot tied Tim Duncan's ACC single-season record with his 29th double-double and also passed Duncan (457) for the most rebounds in a single season in ACC history (since 1985–86). Entering the 2022 Final Four, Bacot has 475 rebounds in the 2021–22 season, which is 4th in NCAA history for a single-season (since 1985–86). North Carolina lost in the national championship game to Kansas. Bacot recorded 15 points and 15 rebounds, becoming the first to have a

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

in all six tournament games.

Senior season (2022–23)

Following the Tar Heels' stunning Final Four run in 2022, Bacot decided to return to Chapel Hill for his senior year. Along with Love, Davis, and Black, Bacot was part of a core for a team that earned the preseason No. 1 ranking. in the AP Poll. Despite the expectations, the team struggled throughout the season, going 23–10 and missing out on the NCAA tournament. Bacot, however, was one of the lone bright spots for the Tar Heels, earning first-team all-ACC honors and being named third team All-America. On January 21, 2023, in an 80–69 win against rivals

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

, Bacot surpassed two Tar Heel records. He passed

Tyler Hansbrough Andrew Tyler Hansbrough (born November 3, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional. He has played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for seven seasons, as well ...

for most rebounds in a career at UNC, and

Billy Cunningham William John Cunningham (born June 3, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the ''Kangaroo Kid'' for his leaping and record-setting rebounding abilities. He spent a total of 17 seasons with the ...

for most double doubles in program history. On the season, he averaged 15.9 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game.

Fifth year (2023–24)

Following his senior season, Bacot announced that he would use his fifth year of eligibility (granted due to the COVID-19 pandemic), and return to North Carolina for the 2023–24 season.

National team career

Bacot played for the United States under-18 basketball team at the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship. He averaged 7.8 points and five rebounds, helping his team win the gold medal.

Career statistics

College

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, 32 , , 32 , , 24.5 , , .469 , , – , , .645 , , 8.3 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , 1.1 , , 9.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 29 , , 28 , , 22.7 , , .628 , , .000 , , .661 , , 7.8 , , .8 , , .7 , , .9 , , 12.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 39 , , 39 , , 31.6 , , .569 , , .125 , , .670 , , 13.1 , , 1.5 , , .8 , , 1.7 , , 16.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 32 , , 30.3 , , .554 , , .000 , , .665 , , 10.4 , , 1.4 , , .6 , , 1.0 , , 15.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 132 , , 131 , , 30.3 , , .556 , , .067 , , .663 , , 10.1 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , 1.8 , , 13.7

Acting

In 2023, Bacot made a cameo in a season three episode of

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

's ''

Outer Banks The Outer Banks (frequently abbreviated OBX) are a string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. They line most of the North Carolina coastline, separating ...

''.

References

External links

North Carolina Tar Heels bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacot, Armando 2000 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Richmond, Virginia Centers (basketball) IMG Academy alumni McDonald's High School All-Americans North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players Power forwards (basketball)