North Carolina’s path to the Final Four has been a bumpy one. The Tar Heels began the season 12-6 and lived largely on the edge of the bubble through conference play before catching fire at the right time to make an unlikely run to New Orleans. Along the way, Armando Bacot has been paying attention to the haters.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, two days before a highly-anticipated semifinal matchup with rival Duke, Bacot revealed that comments about his team being “soft” have given the Tar Heels plenty of motivation to fuel their turnaround.
“When you said (we were ‘soft’), it definitely pissed us all off,” Bacot said, per Dean Straka of 247Sports. “I’m not going to lie. Yeah, it was something—it was kind of upsetting just because I didn’t think we were really a soft team. I think we just weren’t playing together. We were going through tough stretches and growing pains as a team … But I feel like even getting to this point we just showed how much farther we are from being a soft team. We’re probably actually the toughest team.”
Bacot said his team has thrived when confronted with doubters during the season, which has helped guide the Heels to the program’s 22nd Final Four appearance.
Bacot, a first-team All-ACC selection this season, has stepped his game up during the NCAA tournament. Through four games, the junior has averaged 16.5 points, 15.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, including a 22-rebound effort against Saint Peter’s in the Elite Eight. During that game, he surpassed Hall of Famer Tim Duncan as the ACC’s record holder for rebounds in a single season, and he now has 29 double-doubles on the year.
