NEW ORLEANS — North Carolina forward Armando Bacot said he’s been getting constant treatment since rolling his right ankle late in Saturday’s semifinal win over Duke and, without question, he’s going to play in Monday’s NCAA men’s basketball national championship game against Kansas.
“My status for (Monday) is, I’m playing,” Bacot said. “No chance I’m not playing in the national championship game. My right leg would have to be cut off for me not to play.”
Bacot practiced with the team on Sunday, but given the quick turnaround between games coach Hubert Davis said the team was going to have a limited practice anyway.
Davis was pleased with the amount of progress Bacot has made in a short time.
“They did X-rays and they were all negative,” Davis said. “Obviously, he’s a little sore. But he was walking around and feeling good and was very encouraged with the amount of swelling from his ankle sprain. And he’s ready to play (Monday) night.”
The Heels need Bacot in the lineup to battle Kansas big David McCormack, who scored 25 points in the Jayhawks’ win over Villanova in Saturday’s semifinal game. McCormack is a 6-foot-10 senior, who, like Bacot, is a Virginia native.
Bacot has averaged 15.4 points and 16.8 rebounds in the NCAA tournament.
He’s coming off scoring 11 points and setting a UNC record with 21 rebounds in a Final Four game. It was his 30th double-double of the season, which moved him past Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan in 1996-97 for the most in a single season in ACC history.
He stepped on Leaky Black’s foot and rolled his ankle with 5:18 left in the game. He returned, but fouled out with 46 seconds left. Bacot said since the Duke game ended, he’s been receiving treatment.
“I really haven’t had a chance to have a break, right after the game I had X-rays then I worked on it about two hours (Saturday) night,” Bacot said. “Then I woke up and got in the pool. I did an assignment I had due and was wearing the normatec (compression sleeve) for about an hour. Now I have some stim (stimulation) on my legs right now (during media interviews), so I’ve been attacking it all day.”
As much as Bacot is working to make it better through treatment, nothing replaces simply having the toughness to play through.
UNC athletic trainer Doug Halverson told him about former guard Joel Berry II turning his ankle during the Heels run to the 2017 title. Halverson said he couldn’t do anything to make Berry feel less pain. Berry just “toughed it out and fought.”
It was exactly the pep speech that Bacot needed at the time.
“That really gave me an adrenaline boost, and I was like, (forget) it,” Bacot said. “I was like it’s four minutes left for the national championship.”
Now it is 40 minutes until a national champion is crowned and Bacot is determined to be a factor.
