UNC Recruiting: Five-star prospect Armando Bacot announces his top five

Earlier this week, five-star big man Armando Bacot said that he would announce his top-five list of schools that he would choose from sometime next month. Fortunately for us, Christmas came early this year, and Bacot announced during an AAU game against Team CP3 which schools made the cut.

Looking at the teams that made the cut, I will say this is quite an interesting list of finalists. Notable schools missed off of the list include Kansas, Villanova, and Virginia. Perhaps the most surprising school not to make the cut is Kansas, who has been as involved with players that UNC has tried recruiting as anybody outside of Kentucky and Duke. Only having to deal with the Blue Devils out of the usual suspects helps Carolina’s chances immensely, and hopefully they can lock Bacot up.

What’s also worth noting here is that Roy Williams has made Armando Bacot one of the biggest priorities in the 2019 class. He has made a lot of visits, and has been in contact with him a lot throughout this process. Given that the other big men on Roy’s list are Duke leans according to 247 Sports’ Crystal Ball, it’s hard to foresee this becoming the kind of battle for a recruit that we’ve seen in the past between the two schools. However, we all know that there have been some weird developments in recruiting over the past few years. It’s hard to count Coach K out, as much as that hurts to say.

Bacot’s announcement is big news for the direction that recruiting is starting to trend for Roy Williams and his staff. If they can wrap up Bacot, it will be the second year in a row that the Heels managed to lock down a five-star prospect (according to the 247 Sports composite), and the third time in the past four recruiting classes. More importantly, it will be a huge get for a true big man that Roy Williams will likely need going into 2019-2020. Garrison Brooks and Sterling Manley I am sure will find their footing by then, but Bacot would certainly make for an excellent insurance policy.