UNC Big Man Armando Bacot Unsure on Timeline for Shoulder Injury

BLACKSBURG, Va. — After missing North Carolina’s 80-72 loss on Sunday at Virginia Tech, star power forward Armando Bacot said there isn’t a clear timeline on his return from a bruised right shoulder.

Bacot said he hasn’t practiced since suffering the injury Wednesday night during the opening minutes of the Tar Heels’ loss at Indiana, and he’s been dealing with pain. He tried to play here in the ACC opener at Cassell Coliseum, calling his status entering the afternoon a game-time decision.

UNC announced that Bacot wouldn’t be in the starting lineup Sunday — he arrived having started 107 of the 108 career games he has played in college — and the senior big man pulled the plug entirely on his availability against the Hokies after going through pregame warmups.

“I just wasn’t comfortable,” Bacot said. “I hadn’t practiced all week since the (Indiana) game. I’ve just been in pain, and I was just going to see what I could do, even if I could just be able to shoot layups or something. My shoulder was too stiff, so I couldn’t really do anything.”

So the 18th-ranked Tar Heels (5-4) were without the ACC Preseason Player of the Year’s 16.1 points per game and 11.1 rebounds per game in their first ACC contest of the season, on the way to suffering their fourth straight loss.

“We didn’t know until game time,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “I was going under the assumption that he would play, and when he came back and he said he didn’t feel like he could, then we move forward.

“It is what it is, North Carolina always shows up. It doesn’t matter who’s playing or not. We had enough in the bag to be able to win this basketball game, and we just didn’t do it.”

Bacot, one of the greatest rebounders in school history, remained eight boards shy of surpassing George Lynch (1,097 career rebounds) and moving into third place on UNC’s all-time rebounding list.

Having reached the end of a taxing stretch of five games away from home — this road trip took UNC from Portland, Ore., to Bloomington, Ind., to Blacksburg, Va. — the Tar Heels now have five days off between games, before a Dec. 10 date against Georgia Tech at the Smith Center.

Bacot said it was frustratingly difficult watching from the UNC bench on Sunday, and knowing that his presence around the basket perhaps could’ve reduced the impact supplied by Virginia Tech forwards Justyn Mutts (27 points, 11 rebounds) and Grant Basile (12 points). Altogether, the Hokies out-rebounded the Tar Heels 39-25.

Bacot said he did pick up some valuable insight while relegated to the bench.

“I guess it helped me, too,” he said, “just to be able to put everything into perspective and just kind of see how it is out there while I’m not out there. In terms of just how we play and what I can do…