It was a lost season for a North Carolina Tar Heels team that was expected to contend for a national title this season. Unfortunately, UNC fell flat on its face after trying to run it back with a roster that made an improbable NCAA Tournament run a year prior, only to lose to the Kansas Jayhawks in the national championship.
Ultimately, after an inconsistent regular season and an early conference tournament exit, the committee revealed that the Tar Heels were among the last four teams out in the men’s bracket. North Carolina would later decline an initiation to compete in the NIT and several players have already elected to enter the transfer portal.
Finally, after taking blow after blow, UNC received some good news on Wednesday.
According to Stadium hoops insider Jeff Goodman, Armando Bacot is returning to Chapel Hill for his fifth and final season of eligibility. The program’s all-time leading rebounder will return after averaging 15.9 points/per game and 10.4 rebounds/per game in 2022-23. Bacot battled through injuries to his ankle and shoulder and still managed to be named to the Associated Press All-America Third Team.
“I’m using my last year of eligibility,” Bacot said via Goodman. “I felt it was the right decision for my future.”
“The primary reason I am coming back is because I don’t want to leave North Carolina this way,” he added. “But I also know I need to improve and feel like this is the best place to do that.”
More from Armando Bacot to @Stadium on his decision to return to UNC.
“The primary reason I am coming back is because I don’t want to leave North Carolina this way. But I also know I need to improve and feel like this is the best place to do that.” https://t.co/OaYgO3R2cu
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 22, 2023
Bacot quoted Goodman’s tweet with a picture of former Kansas star, Perry Ellis, who played in 144 collegiate games during his time with the Jayhawks. The running joke here is that even though Ellis was only at Kansas from 2012-16, it felt to many that he was with the program for an eternity.
https://t.co/vvAHsPjgpV pic.twitter.com/jt0Z1Ga7qq
— Armando Bacot Jr. (@iget_buckets35) March 22, 2023
It appears that North Carolina fans will have to see Bacot participate in senior night ceremonies for the third consecutive season.
