By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Armando Bacot sounded on Friday like the owner of a new and better car that he can’t wait to test on the road.
He’s happy to put last season’s struggles in his rear-view mirror and confident that the attitude of Carolina’s newcomers will produce much better results this season.
“This year, we are just hungry,” Bacot said. “Last year, we felt we were that good, and we weren’t that good. So that’s really all that happened.”
Bacot said there was a lot that led to the Tar Heels’ 20–13 season that he expects this No. 19-ranked group to avoid.
“You want to start building good habits now and not thinking we can just turn it on at a certain point of the season, but kind of just playing like that throughout, and then carrying it on from there,” he said.
Last season, the Tar Heels went from an overconfident preseason No. 1 team that lacked focus during some games to missing the NCAA tournament. Consistent effort often was an issue.
“It’s just been great having so many new guys because we kind of just flushed last season and really hadn’t even thought about it at all,” Bacot said. “The guys on the team really haven’t been through that. Only a few of us were a part of that.”
The transfers may not have battle scars from Carolina’s rough season a year ago, but Bacot says they all came to Chapel Hill for a reason.
“I think we’re all just in similar situations,” he said. “Our transfers are coming from situations they didn’t like, and they want to win. Obviously, everyone that was here last year wants to win. I think we have that agreement and, amongst us, we have one goal.”
Bacot is eager to get into the season because he doesn’t anticipate the same problems on a team full of experienced talent, based on the team’s focus in practice. Bacot and RJ Davis are the only returning starters, and the only other scholarship players who dealt with last season’s struggles were Seth Trimble and Jalen Washington.
“We seem like a team that’s playing hard and listening to coaches, so I’m excited to see if we can carry that on to the first game of the season,” Bacot said. “We play hard. The new transfers, they’re hungry and they’ve been doing everything that we’ve asked. Just a certain level of trust, I think, this year. It makes a huge difference, especially if we keep it consistent all throughout the year and not turn it on at certain points.”
Even though most of Bacot’s teammates are newcomers, he says the team has bonded well on and off the court.
“It’s been great,” he said. “This is probably the closest I’ve been with a group since I’ve been here, other than maybe my freshman year. I love just coming in here every day, practicing and lifting and going out with teammates and all that. We seem like a group that really wants to play for each other and win; I think that’s encouraging.”
Two fifth-year players (Notre Dame transfer Cormac Ryan and Brown transfer Paxson Wojcik), a senior (Jae’Lyn Withers from Louisville) and two juniors (Harrison Ingram from Stanford and James Okonkwo from West Virginia) have brought a level of maturity to the team that has been evident in practice.
“It’s one of those things where we’re in practice, and Coach can say one thing, and that’s all it will have to be, versus maybe last year, Coach having to repeat things and the message not getting out there. I think now, Coach just tells us one thing and we go and do it.”
Starting with Monday’s 7 p.m. opener at the Smith Center against Radford (ACC Network), Bacot is confident that the players won’t take anything for granted like last year and will demand their best in every game.
“I think last year, we didn’t do a good job of handling business early on in the season,” said Bacot, emphasizing that building early leads will also make it more likely that more player get into games so that they’ll be ready later in the season. “Just have an emphasis of playing as as good as possible and playing for those other guys.”
It always helps to have an intense teammate like Carolina had in Brady Manek two seasons ago to bring intangibles that get the team going. Nobody took that role last season.
“Brady was just kind of weird, honestly,” Bacot said. “I don’t know how much he said. He’d just start flipping out and kicking chairs and stuff like that. Having a guy like that —it was definitely great for us. It was something to laugh at. But also, too, we felt where he was coming from and it got us going.”
Bacot said that Ryan has “done a few crazy things so far,” and might be that guy this season.
“He’s just so competitive. He might miss a shot and get mad and started yelling a little,” Bacot said. “He’ll get beat on a back-door cut and get upset about that. It’s good having guys like him who really care.” From what Bacot says, the whole team cares a lot and is intent on making this a special season.
UNC schedule
| Date | Month/day | Opponent/event (final ranks) |
|---|---|---|
| October | Exhibitions | |
| 9 | 7 p.m. Friday | vs. USC in Greensboro |
| 18 | 5 p.m. Sunday | vs. Indiana in Indianapolis |
| 27 | Tuesday | vs. Charlotte |
| November | Regular season | |
| 2 | Monday | vs. Western Carolina |
| 6 | Friday | vs. Wofford |
| 10 | Tuesday | vs. Wyoming |
| 13 | Friday | vs. Georgia |
| 20 | Friday | vs. Marshall |
| 23 | Monday | vs. Monmouth |
| 27 | Friday, 7 p.m. | Dick Vitale Invitational vs. West Virginia in Charlotte |
| December | ||
| 1 | Tuesday | ACC/SEC Challenge vs. No. 13 Arkansas |
| 6 | Sunday | vs. Butler |
| 12 | Saturday afternoon | at Georgetown |
| 15 | 7 p.m. Tuesday | Tobacco Road Classic vs. N.C. State in Greensboro |
| 19 | 2:30 Saturday, CBS | CBS Sports Classic vs. Kentucky in New York |
| 21 | Monday | vs. The Citadel |
| 30 | Wednesday | vs. California |
| January | ||
| 2 | Saturday | at Boston College |
| 5 | 7 p.m. Tuesday | at Louisville |
| 9 | Saturday | vs. N.C. State |
| 13 | Wednesday | at Florida State |
| 16 | Saturday | vs. Stanford |
| 19 | Tuesday | vs. No. 17 Virginia |
| 23 | Saturday | at Syracuse |
| 26 | Tuesday | vs. SMU |
| 30 | Saturday | Nashville Hoops Showdown vs. No. 5 Illinois in Nashville, Tenn. |
| February | ||
| 2 | Tuesday | at Notre Dame |
| 6 | Saturday | vs. Georgia Tech |
| 8 | Monday, 7 p.m, ESPN | vs. Louisville |
| 13 | Saturday | at No. 4 Duke |
| 20 | Saturday | at Wake Forest |
| 22 | Monday, 7 p.m, ESPN | vs. No. 24 Miami |
| 27 | Saturday | at Virginia Tech |
| March | ||
| 2 | Tuesday | at Pittsburgh |
| 6 | Saturday | vs. No. 4 Duke |
| 9–13 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament in Greensboro |
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| No. | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Freshman | Maximo Adams (MAX-ih-mo) | F | 6–7 | 220 |
| 30 | Freshman | Malloy Smith | G | 6–5 | 180 |
| 21 | Freshman | Sayon Keita (SIGH-on KAY-tuh) | C | 7–0 | 205 |
| 5 | Freshman | Kevin Thomas | W | 6–6 | 205 |
| 35 | Sophomore | Cade Bennerman — U | C | 7–0 | 205 |
| 17 | Sophomore | Neo Avdalas — W (NEE-oh ahv-DOLL-lus) | G | 6–9 | 220 |
| 2 | Sophomore | Isaiah Denis | G | 6–4 | 185 |
| 3 | Sophomore | Matt Able — X | G | 6–5 | 200 |
| 22 | Junior | Alexandros Samodurov (Alex-ANN-drose SAH-muh-DUHR-off) | C | 6–11 | 225 |
| 1 | Senior | Terrence Brown — Y | G | 6–3 | 180 |
| 4 | Senior | Jaydon Young (JAY-din) | G | 6–4 | 200 |
| 15 | Senior | Jarin Stevenson (JARE-in) | F | 6–10 | 220 |
| 14 | Graduate | Angelo Brizzi — Z (BRIZZ-ee) | G | 6–3 | 200 |
| 54 | Graduate | Cameron Fens — V (Fenz) | C | 7–0 | 255 |
| Walk-ons | |||||
| 99 | Junior | John Holbrook — SA | F | 6–8 | 230 |
| 32 | Senior | Evan Smith | G | 6–1 | 200 |
V — South Dakota transfer; U — Northwestern transfer; W — Virginia Tech transfer; X — N.C. State transfer; Y — Utah transfer; Z — Buffalo transfer; SA — Holbrook is a designated student-athlete, so he doesn’t count against UNC’s 15-player limit.
Coach Michael Malone’s coaching staff — Associate head coach Chuck Martin; assistant coaches Bryan Tibaldi (tih-BALL-dee), Sean May, Jorge Sanz (HOR-hey sahnth), Pat Sullivan and Brandon Robinson; Director of player development Deon Thompson.
Players who entered transfer portal
| Player | Class next season | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt | Next school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luka Bogavac | Senior | W | 6–6 | 215 | Oklahoma State |
| James Brown | Senior | C | 6–10 | 240 | Howard |
| Derek Dixon | Sophomore | G | 6–5 | 200 | Arizona |
| Kyan Evans | Senior | G | 6–2 | 175 | Minnesota |
| Zayden High | Junior | C | 6–10 | 230 | South Florida |
| Jonathan Powell | Junior | G | 6–6 | 190 | Pittsburgh |
| Ivan Matlekovic | Junior | C | 7–0 | 255 | Pacific |
UNC schedule
| Date | Month/day | Opponent/event (final ranks) |
|---|---|---|
| October | Exhibitions | |
| 9 | 7 p.m. Friday | vs. USC in Greensboro |
| 18 | 5 p.m. Sunday | vs. Indiana in Indianapolis |
| 27 | Tuesday | vs. Charlotte |
| November | Regular season | |
| 2 | Monday | vs. Western Carolina |
| 6 | Friday | vs. Wofford |
| 10 | Tuesday | vs. Wyoming |
| 13 | Friday | vs. Georgia |
| 20 | Friday | vs. Marshall |
| 23 | Monday | vs. Monmouth |
| 27 | Friday, 7 p.m. | Dick Vitale Invitational vs. West Virginia in Charlotte |
| December | ||
| 1 | Tuesday | ACC/SEC Challenge vs. No. 13 Arkansas |
| 6 | Sunday | vs. Butler |
| 12 | Saturday afternoon | at Georgetown |
| 15 | 7 p.m. Tuesday | Tobacco Road Classic vs. N.C. State in Greensboro |
| 19 | 2:30 Saturday, CBS | CBS Sports Classic vs. Kentucky in New York |
| 21 | Monday | vs. The Citadel |
| 30 | Wednesday | vs. California |
| January | ||
| 2 | Saturday | at Boston College |
| 5 | 7 p.m. Tuesday | at Louisville |
| 9 | Saturday | vs. N.C. State |
| 13 | Wednesday | at Florida State |
| 16 | Saturday | vs. Stanford |
| 19 | Tuesday | vs. No. 17 Virginia |
| 23 | Saturday | at Syracuse |
| 26 | Tuesday | vs. SMU |
| 30 | Saturday | Nashville Hoops Showdown vs. No. 5 Illinois in Nashville, Tenn. |
| February | ||
| 2 | Tuesday | at Notre Dame |
| 6 | Saturday | vs. Georgia Tech |
| 8 | Monday, 7 p.m, ESPN | vs. Louisville |
| 13 | Saturday | at No. 4 Duke |
| 20 | Saturday | at Wake Forest |
| 22 | Monday, 7 p.m, ESPN | vs. No. 24 Miami |
| 27 | Saturday | at Virginia Tech |
| March | ||
| 2 | Tuesday | at Pittsburgh |
| 6 | Saturday | vs. No. 4 Duke |
| 9–13 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament in Greensboro |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
