UNC basketball alum Armando Bacot finished ninth in fan voting en route to landing a spot in the NBA G League Up Next Game on Sunday, Feb. 16, at 3:30 p.m. ET, part of NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco. The 24-year-old big man is one of 28 players who received invites to the showcase event, along with Memphis Hustle teammates Yuki Kawamura, DJ Steward, and Maozinha Pereira.

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Through 26 games in his first season as a pro, Bacot is averaging 14.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks across his 31.7 minutes per outing. The 6-foot-10, 240-pound Virginia native is shooting 42.4 percent from the field, including a relatively encouraging 31.4 percent beyond the arc, and 72.1 percent at the charity stripe.

Following a five-year college career in Chapel Hill, in which Armando Bacot became the UNC basketball program’s all-time leading rebounder and double-double machine, he did not hear his name at the 2024 NBA Draft.

Now, though, in light of his prowess as an NBA G League rookie, it may be only a matter of time before he lands an opportunity on the game’s biggest stage.

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