UNC Basketball: Bacot Named Preseason ACC Player of the Year

The UNC basketball team’s star big man has been voted as the best player in the ACC entering this season.

Last year, UNC basketball standout Armando Bacot was snubbed of the ACC Player of the Year Award when he finished second to Wake Forest’s Alondes Williams.

With all due respect to Williams, Bacot comfortably averaged a double-double as UNC’s best player while leading the Tar Heels to a better ACC record than the Deacs, an NCAA tournament appearance (Wake missed the field), and a trip to the National Championship Game.

While most Tar Heel fans believe the big man should already have secured an ACC POTY Award and a spot in the rafters, the media is predicting that Bacot will get it done this year.

The Richmond, Virginia native received 82 out of 101 votes to win the award.  Miami’s Isaiah Wong was second in the voting with five votes, while Carolina’s Caleb Love was third with four votes.  The remaining ten votes were split between Duke’s Jeremy Roach, Clemson’s PJ Hall, UNC’s RJ Davis, NC State’s Terquavion Smith, Virginia Tech’s Hunter Cattoor, and Duke’s Dariq Whitehead.

Bacot finished last season with monster numbers, leading Carolina with over 16 points and 13 rebounds per game.  The 6-11 center won Most Outstanding Player of the East Regional during UNC’s Final Four run and became the first player ever to record six double-doubles in a single NCAA Tournament.

Bacot’s decision to return to school made him a clear pick to not only be the Preseason ACC POTY, but also a likely First-Team All-American.  While personal accolades are valuable, Armando and the Tar Heels’ mission this season is to finish the job and be the last team standing on the first Monday in April.

Follow us @KeepingItHeel on Twitter and like our fan page on Facebook for continued coverage of UNC basketball news, updates, and recruiting.