Fifth-year players are practically everywhere. They have been ever since the NCAA decided not to count the truncated 2020-21 season against anyone’s eligibility. Even so, 2019-2024 UNC basketball big man Armando Bacot attracted incessant jokes from nearby fanbases.
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One possible explanation is that he was the full-time UNC basketball starting center for five years and drew everlasting fame in the world-famous UNC-Duke basketball rivalry via his picture-perfect grinning dunk in the Tar Heels’ March 2022 road win over the Blue Devils in Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game.
That’s not to mention the Final Four knockout to Krzyzewski’s career a few weeks later and the all-time UNC rebounder’s 2-0 mark against Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils as a fifth-year Tar Heel last season. On that note, remember that Bacot’s decorated college career spanned four head coaches between the archrivals in Scheyer, Coach K, Roy Williams, and Hubert Davis.
Moreover, the 24-year-old Bacot, now on the Memphis Grizzlies’ preseason roster after going undrafted in June, isn’t shy when it comes to passionately supporting his alma mater.
Adding it all up, it’s no surprise that Bacot decided to check in with Hubert Davis’ Tar Heels in Memphis’ FedExForum ahead of their 84-76 exhibition victory over Penny Hardaway’s Tigers in the St. Jude Tip Off Classic. And it was only a matter of time before a popular Duke fan account chimed in on the UNC basketball celebrity’s presence with some hypothetical about 2014-18 Blue Devil treasure Grayson Allen:
Imagine if a guy like let’s say Grayson Allen did this after graduating.
UNC fans would’ve had a field day. https://t.co/mLEF8HfaV5
— Blue Devils (@BlueDevils) October 15, 2024
So, Bacot broke it down for that “Blue Devils” account by noting the mere three miles that separated him from the visiting Tar Heels while also pointing out Duke basketball faithful’s hilariously perplexing “obsession” over his journey and general whereabouts:
Seen the team twice since i left .. once because I was moving out of my apartment so I went to practice this time they’re playing 3 minutes from me why are ya’ll so obsessed with me 😭😭😭
— Armando Bacot Jr. (@iget_buckets35) October 15, 2024
Yes, Bacot hung out with the 2024-25 UNC basketball players and coaches during shootaround.
Plus, perhaps he further disturbed some Duke fans by sticking around and watching one of his former teammates, junior guard Seth Trimble, pour in an electrifying 33 points for the preseason No. 9 Tar Heels against the Memphis Tigers while sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau tallied a turbo-charged double-double with 11 points and 13 assists.
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