Cormac Ryan goes on lengthy rant defending RJ Davis, Armando Bacot after Alabama loss

No. 1 seed North Carolina fell in heartbreaking fashion in the Sweet 16, narrowly losing an epic back-and-forth battle with No. 4 seed Alabama.

2023-24 was a special group for Hubert Davis and the Tar Heels, with longtime program stalwarts Armando Bacot and RJ Davis leading the charge, flanked by a mostly-older surrounding core of pieces that fit perfectly together. But for Bacot and Davis specifically, Thursday’s loss marked the end of an era.

Davis was clearly upset with himself after the loss and harped on his poor shooting performance. “I mean, I just wasn’t good enough today,” he said in the postgame. “Missed a lot of easy shots I normally make.”

But fellow veteran and sixth-year senior Cormac Ryan interjected to take up for Davis despite the missed shots.

“I’ve got to chime in here,” said Ryan. “You guys can write whatever you want about tonight’s game. You could talk about RJ you could talk about the stats. You could talk about whatever.”

But, says Cormac Ryan, there’s two guys who are particularly responsible for this terrific season.

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“We would not be in this position today without RJ Davis and Armando Bacot. Carolina wouldn’t be in this position today without these two guys. And so say what you want, there’s just not a true fiber in your being that could actually believe that anything that happened tonight could be the result of something RJ did wrong, because RJ’s done something incredible for this team.”

Ryan continued, noting Davis’ contributions to the program.

“He’s done stuff that’s never been done before. He’s one of the greatest Tar Heels of all time. And for anybody to come and say anything negative about RJ is unacceptable, and I’m just going to say that.”

Bacot also shared comments after the game and explained his deep connection with head coach Hubert Davis after all these years together.

“I’ve known Coach Davis since I was 14 years old, 15 years old. And knowing this is the last time I’ll play for him, it definitely hurts,” said Bacot.

“I think today, I mean, it was tough but all year we play hard and today we played hard and they just more shots than us,” the Carolina big man added. “And it’s tough losing. It’s not easy losing especially as talented as a team we are we felt we had the chance to win the national championship this year.”

A tough loss to swallow, but careers worth celebrating when it comes to RJ Davis and Armando Bacot.