UNC Basketball: Armando Bacot sends message to UNC recruiting targets

Armando Bacot sent a clear message to UNC basketball recruiting targets.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are preparing for a Sweet 16 matchup with the UCLA Bruins in Philadelphia on Friday night, and they answered a variety of questions from the media regarding that and their tournament run as a whole the day prior.

Caleb Love, R.J. Davis, Brady Manek, Leaky Black, and Armando Bacot were among those that took questions ahead of the big game, and while a number of them were noteworthy, it was Bacot’s commentary that stood out the most.

The three-year starter and first-team All-ACC selection had a message for UNC recruiting targets in regards to the advantage of playing for a coach who has extensive experience as an NBA player.

"“I would just say for all recruits, I don’t know why they wouldn’t look at the way we play and not want to go here or consider going here,” Bacot told Inside Carolina. “We’ve got Coach Sullivan, too, who was in the NBA for 20 years and then Coach Lebo who coached in the NBA. A lot of things we do best defensively, icing the ball screens, the offense kind of free form and shooting a lot of threes, spacing the floor out. It’s a lot of opportunities to show those type of things that NBA teams like. It’s just great and fun to be able to do, and yeah, we enjoy it.”"

Bacot, a three-year starter at North Carolina that picked the Tar Heels over a number of other schools including Duke and Virginia Tech, has gone from a raw, unrefined big man to a dominant, third-team All-American power forward in the course of just over two years.

Bacot probably isn’t speaking to the class of 2022, as the Tar Heels have already established the nation’s No. 11 class with three four-star recruits, but his message could be important for players in the class of 2023 and beyond. That’s particularly true for Gregory “G.G.” Jackson, who is considering North Carolina for what will likely be his lone year of college basketball.

Also on Jackson’s list is Auburn, Duke, Georgetown, South Carolina, and the NBA G-League. South Carolina is believed to be on the outs with Jackson following the firing of former head coach Frank Martin, but that has yet to be confirmed by Jackson’s camp. I’d be surprised if Jackson ended up at South Carolina at this point, though, given that he and his family were so high on Martin.

We’ll just have to wait and see how the Frank Martin firing affects Jackson’s decision, as the Gamecocks were once believed to be the prohibitive favorite in the No. 1-ranked prospect’s recruitment. Hopefully, Bacot’s words carry some weight with Jackson and other recruits, as Hubert Davis and company look to sustain their current level of success in the years to come.

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