NIL makes Armando Bacot’s decision to stay at North Carolina a lot easier

North Carolina forward Armando Bacot, a third-team All-American this season, announced Wednesday that he will return to the Tar Heels for a fifth season. NIL likely made Bacot’s decision easier, if not viable.

Bacot already has partnered with national brands such as crocs, Dunkin’ and Rhoback. He received equity in the form of stock options through a partnership with BOA Nutrition, and he made a cameo in the TV show “Outer Banks.” Bacot has 154,000 followers on Instagram, 57,000 on Twitter and 37,000 on TikTok, which provides value to potential corporate partners on his social media channels, where the majority of NIL activations take place.

“I can tell you, Armando’s made more in NIL than he would’ve on a two-way contract in the G League,” Daniel Hennes, the CEO of the online event booking platform Engage and an adviser to Bacot, told On3 in February.

Most NBA draft projections have Bacot going in the second round or undrafted. But he again will be one of the best big men in college basketball next season, which means the NIL money will continue to flow.

Of the 15 men’s basketball players who were named AP first-, second- or third-team All-Americans, seven are forwards or centers who have spent at least four years in college. Veteran, proven big men, like Bacot, stand to benefit from the NCAA’s NIL era, especially if they’re able to return for an extra year of eligibility.

“I’m not going to comment on Armando and his thinking, but on overall players, yeah, you’ll see a wave of guys who come back again because maybe they go get, you know, not the NBA feedback they want and they’re like, ‘You know what? I can make a million dollars coming back to school or I can go take my chances in the G League. But I can take my chances in the G League at any point so I’ll come back,’ ” Hennes said when asked in general about what players with a potential fifth or sixth year of eligibility might consider when weighing a possible return to school.

Bacot and the Tar Heels went to the Final Four last season but missed the tournament this season. From a financial standpoint, the Final Four run was big for Bacot.

“After they beat Duke in the Final Four (in 2022), he texted me like, ‘I think brands are going to want to work with me now,’ ” Hennes said. “He realized that when you have those moments – look, we did some NIL stuff last season. It’s not like he had nothing. He made a good amount of money but it just wasn’t the same national level, it wasn’t the same size of deal, it wasn’t the same caliber.”

Bacot averaged 15.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game this season, though the Tar Heels underachieved. They were ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll, yet went 20-13 and missed the NCAA tournament.

By returning for a fifth season, he’ll have the opportunity to make more NIL money and improve his standing in the North Carolina record book. He has 1,810 career points and needs 481 to pass Phil Ford for second in program history, behind only Tyler Hansbrough’s ACC-record 2,872 points. Bacot already holds the program record for career rebounds with 1,335, which is more than 100 more than Hansbrough. He needs 338 rebounds to break Kenneth Faried’s NCAA career rebounding record of 1,673 for players whose career started in 1973 or later.