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UNC Basketball: Armando Bacot’s historical season at a glance

By Blake Cockrum

Mar 27, 2022; Philadelphia, PA, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward Armando Bacot (5) drives to the basket as St. Peters Peacocks forward Fousseyni Drame (10) defends during the first half in the finals of the East regional of the men's college basketball NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 27, 2022; Philadelphia, PA, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward Armando Bacot (5) drives to the basket as St. Peters Peacocks forward Fousseyni Drame (10) defends during the first half in the finals of the East regional of the men's college basketball NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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UNC basketball center Armando Bacot put up historically significant rebounding numbers during his sensational junior season.

Despite the fact that Armando Bacot was egregiously overlooked for a handful of awards that obviously should have been awarded to him, the North Carolina junior center had a historically significant season, particularly from a rebounding standpoint.

Not only did Bacot re-write the UNC record books for total rebounds (511), double-doubles in a single season (31), and double-digit rebound games in a single season (32), he also now stands alone atop the Atlantic Coast Conference in each of those categories as well. He took it one step further when he tied David Robinson’s all-time NCAA record for double-doubles in a season.

Bacot’s dominance on the boards was as good or better in the postseason when he became the first player in college basketball history to achieve a double-double in all six games of a single NCAA Tournament run. He averaged 16.5 rebounds per game during that stretch to go along with 15.3 points.

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For the season, Bacot averaged team-highs in points (16.3), rebounds (13.1), blocks (1.7), and shooting percentage (56.9). He improved his career rebounding average to an even 10 boards per game over the three-year span, 3.4 of which have come on the offensive side of the court — he pulled down 4.3 offensive rebounds per game in 39 games as a junior.

It’s unknown at this juncture whether or not Bacot will return to Chapel Hill for his senior season, but maybe if he did, he’d finally get the respect he deserves following a sensational but sorely undervalued junior campaign. If he does decide to come back, there’s absolutely no reason he shouldn’t be the overwhelming favorite for ACC Player of the Year and first-team All-America.

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