UNC Basketball: Armando Bacot hopes 5-star PG joins Tar Heels class

Now that Armando Bacot has made his decision, he hopes to bring another 5-star player to Chapel Hill

Class of 2019 big man Armando Bacot made it official on Thursday night when he offered his verbal commitment to the University of North Carolina. Bacot ended his recruitment with the verbal to the Tar Heels after he was once a strong Duke lean.

After the Blue Devils backed off of him, things started to change in Bacot’s recruitment and head coach Roy Williams took advantage. Williams made Bacot a priority by watching him a lot during the open evaluation period.

In the end it paid off as UNC landed a five-star front court player for the first time since Tony Bradley Jr. in the 2015 class.

But Williams work isn’t done.

With point guard Jeremiah Francis committed and now Bacot, Williams would love to two more talented players on the wing in this class. One of those players could be combo guard Cole Anthony and he now has some ties to the program.

Bacot and Anthony have developed a friendship during their recruitments and could end up playing together in college. The rumor has been that both Bacot and Anthony want to play college ball together and if that’s the case, then UNC could be in for a package deal.

Following Bacot’s verbal, he talked to 247 Sports recruiting analyst Evan Daniels about his decision and why he picked UNC. In the article Bacot revealed what’s next for him and this really should excite UNC fans.

Here’s what Bacot told Daniels:

"“My main goal is to just to get one of my good friends, Cole Anthony, on board,” Bacot said via Daniels. “That’s where I’m going to work the hardest to try and get him to UNC. Of course his recruitment is hard to tell, but I’m definitely going to be recruit him the hardest because he’s one of my best friends.”"

Anthony is currently ranked as the No. 3 player in the 2019 recruiting class and has really elevated his game during open evaluation periods. Williams and his staff have kept an eye on Anthony during those periods.

While participating in Chris Paul’s camp in North Carolina, Anthony recently visited Chapel Hill for an unofficial. That bodes as good news for the Tar Heels.

The thing that remains consistent about Anthony’s recruitment is that it’s been pretty tight-lipped so far. No one really knows who the favorites are and Anthony doesn’t have a list to date.

Still, even with that info there’s a good feeling that UNC is heavily involved and has at least offered him. With Bacot on board, UNC now has the chance to really make this a special class by landing Anthony.

And if they do, Bacot should probably get some of the credit.

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