Armando Bacot gets status update before national championship

Although he isn’t 100%, North Carolina center Armando Bacot will play Monday in the national championship against Kansas. In the pregame show on TBS, sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson provided an update on the health of the Tar Heels big man after he suffered an ankle injury in the Final Four against Duke.

“Certainly a concern for North Carolina,” Wolfson said. “Armando Bacot has not arrived at the stadium, but I spoke with him yesterday. They are calling it a right ankle sprain. He did have X-Rays and they came back negative, but it was definitely swollen yesterday and he did not do much in practice. He told me he went through around-the-clock treatment. Ice and STEM and pool and stretching. He doesn’t know how effective he’s going to be, but he told me he is playing. You’d have to cut off that right leg for him not to play tonight.”

Bacot went down with the injury with 5:18 to play in the second half of the matchup against the Blue Devils on Saturday. He limped off the court and had some help from the trainers, but was seen walking better and under his own power toward the locker room at the Caesar’s Superdome in New Orleans. He ended up re-entering the game and immediately grabbed his 20th board. He finished the contest with 11 points and 21 rebounds.

If Bacot isn’t quite at full strength, it would be a major blow for North Carolina. The 6-foot-10 leads the team in both scoring (16.3 ppg) and rebounding (13.1 rpg) while also being their unquestioned leader. So far in the NCAA Tournament, he is putting up 15.4 points and 16.8 rebounds per contest.

Tip off for the game between the Tar Heels and Jayhawks is set for 9:20 p.m. ET in New Orleans. Although Armando Bacot will be playing hobbled, his mere presence is a welcome sight for UNC as it aims to claim its seventh college basketball national championship.