UNC Basketball: Armando Bacot talks UNC, Duke and official visits

Could Armando Bacot’s decision come down to North Carolina and Duke?

It’s no secret that Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tar Heels have missed out on the majority of elite front court players that they’ve recruited over the last few years.

With the exception of Tony Bradley, the Tar Heels have missed on every five-star front court player they’ve targeted since signing Isaiah Hicks in 2013. Thankfully, Hicks, along with four-star big man Kennedy Meeks, stuck around the college ranks for four years.

Bradley, on the other hand, unexpectedly left Chapel Hill for the NBA after just one season. He put together a nice freshman campaign for the Tar Heels – and became the team’s first one-and-done player since Brandan Wright in 2007 – but left a gaping hole in the UNC front court upon his early departure.

It’s his departure, and subsequent void in the Tar Heels’ interior, that led to Williams’ decision to enact small ball last season. As a result, North Carolina struggled mightily in the post against larger opponents. It was also the team’s ultimate undoing, as Texas A&M utilized multiple low-post mismatches in a 21-point dismantling of the Tar Heels in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

It’s that beat down, and the recent absence of elite big men in the UNC rotation, that has the North Carolina coaching staff looking sign as many top-tier front court players as possible. The 2018 recruiting cycle is over, having missed on every single five-star big man that they recruited, and the Tar Heels have now shifted their focus and effort to the class of 2019.

The way things are beginning to unfold, though, a lot may ride on the recruitment of five-star center Armando Bacot.

Bacot was among a talented group of players at the U-18 USA Basketball trials in Colorado Springs last week where he continued his exceptional play of late. 247Sports’ Steve Clark caught up with Bacot, and spoke with him about a variety of topics including UNC, Duke and when he intends to begin making official visits.

Bacot listed North Carolina among the five teams that are recruiting him the hardest. Williams has obviously put a lot of time into Bacot’s recruitment, offering him a scholarship nearly a year ago and making multiple trips to watch him play in the time since. Also listed among the teams that are currently prioritizing him the most were Duke, Georgia, Oklahoma State and VCU.

Clark asked Bacot about his plans to begin making official visits and what that timetable might look like.

"“Yeah I don’t think I’m planning on taking any visits in June. I’m looking more at August and September. I’ll probably make a top-five after this. My top-10 and Georgia is in contention for that.”"

And it’ll come as no surprise to North Carolina fans that the top-25 big man has a budding relationship with Duke associate head coach Nate James and the Blue Devils’ coaching staff.

"“…He’s been asking me how I’ve been doing, and I also talked with Coach Scheyer last week after my tournament. He checks in on me to see how I’ve been doing.”"

The 6-foot-10, 240-pound Bacot has been seen as a heavy UNC favorite to this point, though it’s still early in his recruitment. It’s a positive sign for the Tar Heels, however, that all 12 of the Crystal Ball predictions published by 247Sports belong to the Tar Heels. That includes the site’s Director of Basketball Scouting, Jerry Meyer, who made his prediction in late-March.

But as UNC fans have learned over the last handful of recruiting cycles, Duke can never be ruled out until a final decision is announced.

Next: Tar Heels' 2019 class could look a lot like this...

Stick with Keeping It Heel for future updates on the Tar Heels’ recruitment of Bacot, and the rest of the class of 2019.

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