It’s surreal to acknowledge: the Armando Bacot era at Chapel Hill has concluded. After an impactful five seasons with UNC basketball, we bid farewell to No. 5’s dominance in the paint, marking the end of an era.
A lot has changed in Chapel Hill since his arrival: from COVID-19 to the retirement of Roy Williams and the hiring of Hubert Davis to succeed Williams, Bacot has seen the highs and lows of what college basketball has to offer.
In honor of his legendary career, the UNC basketball program released this special video, one that is narrated by Bacot himself.
In just a four minute video, Bacot seems to talk about a wide range of topics. He starts, of course, from the beginning, where he discusses his early years in Chapel Hill and how they impacted him throughout the rest of his college career.
He talks about how Chapel Hill became home, as he became very heavily invested in the community both on and off campus.
One of the strongest lines of the entire video comes when Bacot talks about the changes North Carolina saw during his years on campus:
He goes on to discuss the Carolina family and what it means to him, and also breaks down how he believes his legacy will be remembered. Bacot, as expected, says that he’ll miss being around his teammates, as the bond they created is something that isn’t typically emulated at the next level of competition.
In general, the video is a fitting tribute to a guy that is the program’s all-time leading rebounder and second all-time leading scorer. Sure, his impact on the court is one that won’t be forgotten, but what he did for the University of North Carolina as a whole will carry on for many generations to come.
