UNC’s Armando Bacot Seen Walking With Slight Limp Before National Championship Game

The forward suffered an ankle injury in UNC’s win over Duke Saturday night.

Armando Bacot is set to play against Kansas in the national title game, but the UNC big man may not be 100%.

A video emerged on social media prior to Monday night’s tip-off showing Bacot, who suffered an ankle injury two days ago against Duke, walking with a slight limp on his way to the court.

And here comes the big fella… pic.twitter.com/1HGmOgjy7W

— Three Man Weave (@3MW_CBB) April 5, 2022

According to multiple beat reporters, Bacot appeared to be moving gingerly during warm-ups and kept his activity light.

Armando Bacot might be slow-playing all of us -- and Kansas -- but his movement has been pretty labored during most of the warmups. Lot of jogging gingerly.

— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) April 5, 2022

Armando Bacot is not exactly the most fleet-a-foot when he's healthy. But he hasn't moved at more than a job throughout the warmups, he's barely getting enough lift to dunk in layup lines. Not great.

— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) April 5, 2022

Bacot briefly exited the Tar Heels’s win over the Blue Devils on Saturday night after rolling his right ankle with 5:18 left to play. He returned at the 4:36 mark following a brief stay on the sidelines and finished the rest of the game.

UNC coach Hubert Davis said Sunday Bacot’s X-rays came back negative, and the team expects the junior to play against the Jayhawks.

The Tar Heels will need Bacot, one of the top rebounders in the country, to continue his dominant tournament performance as they look to win the seventh national title in program history.

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