UNC Recruiting: Armando Bacot plans to announce top five list next month

Roy Williams has been his usual busy self on the recruiting trail. He has been getting a good look at a number of prospects over this past month, with maybe the most notable of them all being Cole Anthony, who has made huge leaps up the rankings over the past year. One of the players he’s gotten to see the most, however, is someone that he’s had an eye on for a long time now.

Five-star big man Armando Bacot played in Atlanta this past weekend, and Roy Williams was in attendance accompanied by the likes of Tony Bennett, Tom Crean, and Buzz Williams. Bacot received an offer from UNC last August, and has been on a few unofficial visits to campus since then. Other schools that he is currently considering include Duke, Georgetown, Kansas, Oklahoma State, UCLA, VCU, Villanova, Virginia, and Virginia Tech.

Rivals.com got to catch up with Bacot and ask him about his list, and also got some answers as to how far along he is in making a decision:

“I have my top 10, but Kentucky has been reaching out and Georgia is another school that has been talking to me a lot,” Bacot told Rivals.com. “I plan on releasing my top five sometime in August, probably in the middle of August. I’ll probably make my decision after my official visits unless I just get that feeling before I’m done with them all. I plan on signing early.”

Bacot also talked a little bit about UNC, and it sounds like he has a good relationship with Roy Williams. He said that they talk a lot, and they actually just spoke via FaceTime a few days ago. He also pointed out that he was the first big man that Williams offered in the 2019 class and that he is being made a top priority, which is evident by how often Roy has went to visit him during the entirety of Bacot’s recruiting process.

When reading between the lines of what Rivals reported, UNC is in great position to land Bacot. So great, in fact, that the 247 Sports Crystal Ball gives them a 100% chance of landing him. Obviously this is to be taken with a grain of salt, especially since he plans to take his official visits before making a decision. I’m sure Roy Williams is playing his strongest card in convincing Bacot to commit: Luke Maye will play his last season this year, and it will leave a huge hole in the frontcourt should one of the sophomores not be able to take a step forward during the 2018-19 season. Garrison Brooks and Sterling Manley both have shown signs of promise, but should they still show signs of being raw products, it leaves the door wide-open for Bacot to get major minutes in 2019.