NFL superstar gives shout-out to Armando Bacot

Armando Bacot put together a strong season for North Carolina – and he’s a big reason why the Tar Heels were able to make a run to the NCAA Tournament national championship game. Although Bacot and his team fell short to Kansas, the standout forward gave it his all from start to finish – even when he suffered an ankle injury late in the game.

A former On3 Consensus five-star recruit out of the Class of 2019, Bacot averaged 16.3 points and 13.1 rebounds per game while shooting 56.9% from the field during the season for North Carolina. Through the Tar Heels’ NCAA Tournament run, Bacot put up 15.3 points and 16.5 rebounds each outing.

Despite initially hurting his right ankle in the Tar Heels’ Final Four matchup against longtime rival Duke, Bacot was able to battle through and play in the national championship game – despite even aggravating the same ankle late in the contest. He finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds in the heartbreaking 72-69 loss to Kansas.

Following Monday night’s national championship game, a certain NFL superstar – Arizona Cardinals defensive end JJ Watt – took to Twitter to give a shout-out to Bacot.

“Left it all out there in both games,” Watt said. “Much respect for Bacot.”

Left it all out there in both games.

Much respect for Bacot.

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) April 5, 2022

Bacot’s third season in a North Carolina uniform was his best yet, as he averaged four more points per game than he did a season ago. The forward has improved each year for the Tar Heels – averaging 9.6 points per game in 2019-2020, 12.3 in 2020-2021 and 16.3 in 2021-2022.

While his numbers are continuing to improve, perhaps the most impressive stat for Bacot is that he’s now played in 100 career games at North Carolina – and has started in 99 of those. He has played an average of 26.7 minutes per game for the Tar Heels through his first three seasons in Chapel Hill.