You want the good news or the bad news about Armando Bacot?
The good news is that one of the most engaging, and rapidly becoming one of the best, players to ever don a Carolina uniform can actually play a super senior season in 2023-24.
Yes, he’s one of those COVID kids who, because he was in college during the pandemic, can have a fifth year for a season right now that looks like the Tar Heels may need him, especially if they go on and win the national championship and some others leave early.
The bad news? I’ll let you hear it from the big guy himself.
“Probably not,” the favorite for ACC Player of the Year said Monday at the mid-summer press conference. “I doubt the coaches would even let me come back, they barely let me come back this year. So, I doubt Coach Davis will let me.”
AB was asked why they almost did not let him not come back this year?
“Because they feel like I’m ready,” he said of the NBA. “They’re ready for me to get outta here. They’ve seen enough of me.”
Bacot has been a true personality since before enrolling at Carolina, when he was already tweeting recruiting messages to other prospects. He feels even stronger about UNC now.
“What I say is really the same for everybody,” he admitted. “I mean, why not want to go to a premier basketball school. Great fans, great education, great women. I mean, everything, you can’t lose. Great people.”
Reminded that Carolina has a student body ratio of 62 percent women, he laughed. “That’s what I’m saying, 62 percent. Now with NIL, we got a lot of alumni who work for big businesses who want to work with us. Just people in general want to be a part of Carolina basketball. So why not come?”
The man who has the signature Mondo Burger at Town Hall Grill and Town Hall Burger & Beer wouldn’t say if his current NIL income is higher than the “half million” dollars that was quoted earlier this summer. But he’s made enough to move into a swanky two-bedroom, plus loft, apartment in Chapel Hill and start interviewing personal chefs so he remains in top shape for the season in which his team will open with a high ranking and be among the favorites to win it all.
Bacot wouldn’t say much more about his off-the-court activities, except one comment on his new crib: “It’s pretty nice.”
Wonder if the lease is renewable.
Featured image via Todd Melet
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines