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FDIC. Terms apply. What's

1:25

your dream? Brendan

1:30

Marx, you wrote about a pretty

1:33

significant day in Armando Beicott's basketball

1:35

career all the way back on April 2nd,

1:37

2022. Can

1:40

you take us back to that day

1:42

to Beicott's hotel room in New Orleans

1:44

and tell us what happened? North

1:47

Carolina and Duke have just finished playing in

1:49

the Final Four for their first ever meeting

1:51

in the NCAA tournament. Mike Shushefsky's career has

1:54

been ended by his arch rival. All of

1:56

Armando Beicott's UNC teammates are a block away,

1:58

enjoying all of his career. the festivities

2:00

Bourbon Street has to offer and Armando

2:02

who badly rolled his ankle in the

2:05

final minutes of the game against Duke,

2:07

he's not celebrating with him. Instead he

2:09

is stuck in his hotel room 10

2:11

or 15 floors above Bourbon Street. His

2:13

ankle is swollen to the size of

2:15

a grapefruit and he's deciding

2:17

whether or not he should take off his shoe

2:20

if he has any chances of playing in the

2:22

national championship game. This is a guy who had

2:24

lost more games in North Carolina history than anybody

2:26

in the last two decades and as he's sitting

2:28

there looking at his ankle it's a question of

2:31

how bad do I really want this and

2:34

he doesn't know if he takes his shoe off who he's ever going to get

2:36

it back on again so he decides

2:39

I'm gonna do it I'm gonna sleep in my shoe

2:42

he sleeps in the shoe goes on to play

2:44

in the national championship game against Kansas two days

2:46

later and unfortunately UNC loses

2:48

and it's a moment he hasn't stopped thinking

2:50

about in the year and a half since. Over

3:03

the last four years Armando

3:05

Baycott has been a double double

3:08

machine for one of college basketball's

3:10

most glorious programs. But

3:12

the reminders of what Baycott

3:14

hasn't accomplished continue to hang

3:17

over him. We

3:25

came this far and this was a huge

3:28

goal for us was to just hang up a

3:30

banner and I really wouldn't let anything stop us

3:32

from you know getting to that point and this

3:34

won't be the last time you all see this

3:36

program here. Today

3:38

the athletics Brendan Marsk explains

3:40

why Baycott decided to come

3:42

back for one last high-stakes

3:44

season at Chapel Hill. Plus

3:46

how his fame off the

3:48

court could influence a potential

3:50

championship round. From Wondery

3:52

I'm Tiffany O'Shinsky it's Friday

3:55

December 15th and this is

3:57

UNC. So,

4:03

Brandon Armando Baycott is back for

4:05

a fifth and final season as

4:07

a Tar Heel. And today

4:09

we're looking at what's at stake for him this year.

4:12

So, just at the stage, I want to

4:14

rewind the clock for a minute so that

4:17

we get a sense of the journey he's

4:19

been on to get to this moment. So,

4:21

take us back to the moment that Baycott's

4:23

UNC Odyssey began and tell us how

4:26

did they find him in the first place? Just

4:29

by accident. Now

4:32

head coach Hubert Davis was an assistant at

4:34

the time and was headed to New York

4:36

to go see a player in North Carolina's

4:38

recruiting there. He gets word at

4:40

the last minute the player is injured and

4:42

not going to be participating. And so, he

4:44

hears, hey, there's this other random tournament in

4:46

Richmond, Virginia, of all places. And

4:48

he texts Roy Williams and says, hey, coach, can I

4:50

go? And he says, yeah, sure, what have we got

4:52

to lose? So Hubert Davis goes, he walks into the

4:54

gym at Richmond, Virginia, 9am the next morning, and

4:56

he sees this three-man front court of dudes

4:58

all 6'9 and taller. And he

5:01

goes, awesome, I got here just inside for the U17

5:03

game. And one of the

5:05

ushers taps on the shoulder and goes, uh, coach, these

5:07

are 15-year-olds. And

5:09

one of those players was Armando Baycott. And it was

5:11

early, but his report back to Roy

5:13

Williams essentially was, this is a guy that we need

5:15

to be watching. And obviously, he couldn't have known what

5:18

was coming next, but good thing he ended up canceling

5:20

his flight to New York. Armando

5:23

Baycott did not mess around. North Carolina

5:25

came after him ever from that first

5:27

meeting, really hard, aggressive and recruiting him,

5:29

several unofficial visits where he got to

5:31

meet the staff. The staff met Hay

5:33

and his family. And one night

5:35

he was at his dad's house about 10

5:37

o'clock, goes upstairs, come back downstairs. Dad

5:40

I committed. Dad goes, what happened? We said

5:42

we were going to do this. Dad

5:44

I committed. He just knew. I chose to commit to

5:46

UNC early because I just felt like it was the

5:48

best fit. And I didn't want to leave other

5:50

coaches on and have them keep trying to prove me if I knew I wanted to

5:53

go. Once I got to

5:55

meet the coaches and just see how they play, I knew it

5:57

fit me the best. You know, as his mom

5:59

told me when I was running. right in the piece. He

6:01

didn't want to play games. He didn't want to waste

6:03

his or anybody else's time going on visits. He knew

6:05

weren't going to be productive. North Carolina was the place

6:07

he always wanted to be. And as soon as they

6:10

offered, that was pretty much a sealed deal. So

6:12

Baycott arrived in UNC what feels like a lifetime

6:14

ago in 2019. What were his first couple

6:18

of years like as a player at Chapel Hill? His

6:20

first two seasons at North Carolina actually

6:22

probably have started as poorly as any

6:24

North Carolina player in the last 25

6:26

years. Years of

6:29

disbelief on the Carolina bench has really been a season

6:31

all year long. It's been hard to believe. A lot

6:33

of close losses. Individually

6:36

he was productive. He was a five

6:38

star, top 25 guy, somebody who entered

6:40

college and realistically was considered a one

6:43

and Duncan. It didn't necessarily translate to

6:45

any sort of team success. It

6:48

is a half-time play!

6:51

Another excruciating loss in

6:53

a season of agony for Roy Williams

6:56

and the Tar Heels. At

6:58

a place like North Carolina that is so

7:00

accustomed to winning and the NCAA tournament, it's

7:02

not an expectation, that's the standard. If you

7:04

don't make it, something has gone horribly wrong

7:06

to not win an NCAA tournament game in

7:08

two years there. I mean

7:10

it was really really hard on him. Before

7:13

that I hadn't won anything. I was just

7:15

one of the most losingest players in UNC

7:17

history so I really didn't kind

7:19

of reap the benefits of what comes

7:21

with being here and like obviously... He

7:23

lost more games with a freshman and

7:25

a sophomore than any North Carolina player

7:27

had in like I said in 20

7:29

years in a two-year period. That included

7:31

being part of Roy Williams' worst ever

7:33

team, the only losing season of the

7:35

Hall of Famer's career. So he knew

7:37

what losing was like and I think

7:39

that's in a really important context because

7:41

those experiences his first two seasons at

7:44

North Carolina really propelled what has come

7:46

after. So

7:49

Baycotton UNC went 32-30 his

7:52

first two seasons combined. Definitely

7:54

Not up to the program's high standards and

7:56

it sounds like at that point he kind

7:58

of hit a crossroads. It came to feature

8:01

at the school. Can yield flames. Absolutely.

8:03

You know. Not only was he at a

8:05

crossroads in terms of what do I do

8:08

with my career, am I ready to go

8:10

to the Mbs? Ya, my teammates are about

8:12

to go professional. Roy Williams retired up and

8:14

pretty suddenly morning when I don't. Usually

8:18

do. And

8:31

this is the guys who had been responsible for

8:33

recruiting him And. In our heat he

8:35

told me that that was the close to see ever

8:37

came to leave in North Carolina Aussies as way as

8:39

leave out of it and know what I want to

8:42

do live. Possibly as they

8:44

know leave an hour. As far as strongly

8:46

considered following his teammates and going to the

8:48

Mbs the also strongly considered just moving back

8:50

closer to home. Going to a place like

8:52

this you closer to Richmond. but in the

8:54

end and Roy Williams ends up calling around

8:56

of a kinds has more listen and need

8:58

you to. Trust me I have a head

9:00

coach coming to I know you're gonna like

9:02

stick it out about a that I know

9:04

you. located on Aussies hosts Davis who totally

9:06

so. Was. I love was

9:08

a Thousand Eight and ad for where no

9:10

one has ever. Known. Behold it turned

9:13

out to be Humor Davis, the guy who

9:15

first discovered him and that Richmond gym when

9:17

he was sixteen years old and and that

9:19

that belief in that relationship essentially was enough

9:21

to convince him that North Carolina was going

9:23

to be the place for him. And I

9:25

mean this is a guy who I think

9:27

looked in North Carolina and everyday when you

9:29

walk into Dismiss Center he's gone in there

9:31

for practice and he seen these great great

9:33

names of in the rafters he seemed James

9:36

Worthy, Sam Perkins, Brad Daugherty, Eric My interest

9:38

is so in May he seeing these legends.

9:40

And. They all had the same pedigree he did

9:42

but they all have a lot of things that

9:44

he didn't have which is winning which was unsuitable

9:47

a tournament experience with for these moments that that

9:49

really some met you in the lore of Carolina

9:51

basketball and so was Uber Davis got the job.

9:53

that was really his big selling points or mondo

9:55

it was you can be the guy to help

9:57

deliver some of those moments for the team And

10:00

you certainly won't regret coming along for the ride. And I don't

10:02

think that he did based on what came next. Well,

10:05

along those lines after that gut check

10:07

moment when he did decide to stay,

10:10

remind us how things went for Baycott and the team

10:12

when he was a junior in 2021, 2022. Yeah.

10:15

So Hubert Davis, his first year as head coach

10:18

did not start out super well. It

10:20

looked like early on Armando Maycott might

10:22

continue his losing ways. You know,

10:24

North Carolina was getting smoked in the non-conference, lost

10:26

to Purdue, lost to Tennessee, got embarrassed by Kentucky.

10:28

And in the middle of February, we were questioning,

10:30

is this even an NCAA tournament team? I mean,

10:33

it looked like it might be three years in

10:35

a row that Armando Baycott was not going to

10:37

have any sort of postseason success. And

10:39

then he flipped the switch and

10:41

the team flipped the switch and he put

10:43

together one of the most incredible postseason runs of

10:45

all time. He

10:55

still is and would end up becoming the

10:57

only player in NCAA tournament history

10:59

to have six double doubles in a

11:02

single NCAA tournament, one for every game.

11:04

They're not even a top five seed.

11:06

And second round, they knock out the

11:08

defending champs in Baylor in overtime and

11:10

in a crazy game. And the defending

11:12

national champions, the Baylor Bears are

11:15

out in round number two. A one

11:17

seed is gone in the East and

11:20

North Carolina is moving on to the sweet 16.

11:24

They ended up beating UCLA coming from behind.

11:27

They get kind of lucky and play St. Peter's

11:29

in the elite eight to go to the final

11:31

four setting up the only ever NCAA tournament game

11:34

between Duke and North Carolina in the final four

11:37

with Coach K's career basically hanging in the battle.

11:39

Here we go with

11:41

Williams and Baycott are bound to meet for the

11:43

opening camp

11:47

and a little slice of history down here

11:49

in the Superdome. And in

11:51

that game, he was tremendous. I

11:57

don't know. He

12:00

was arguably the best player on the

12:02

floor, easily the most determined player on

12:04

the floor. And

12:14

in the last couple of minutes, right as North Carolina

12:16

is really fighting for its life, he goes down with

12:18

what looks like a pretty bad sprained ankle, and he

12:20

checks out of the game. And

12:22

it's like, okay, he's

12:25

done, UNC is done, they can't do this

12:27

without him. You blink and

12:46

look over at the scorer's table and he's coming back in. I

12:52

will never forget asking him after the game

12:54

what he was thinking when he came back in.

13:01

And he said, you know, I was sitting in the Superdome on the

13:03

bench and I looked up and I saw 70,000 people

13:05

and realized I was playing in the biggest

13:07

college basketball game of all time. And so

13:09

he gets back in, ends up setting some

13:12

huge screens for North Carolina and knock off

13:14

Duke. He limps off the court,

13:16

you know, he looks like

13:19

he's in terrible, terrible

13:34

shape. And then again, as we would come to

13:36

find out just how bad it was, he goes

13:40

up to the team and he's just

13:43

sitting there looking at his ankle, knowing

13:45

he's one game away from having the

13:47

ultimate moment for himself and for the

13:49

team and not knowing

13:51

if he's going to be able to go. And like,

13:54

I personally have never been in so much pain that I'm looking down

13:56

at my ankle wondering if I should sleep with my shoe on because

13:59

I'm not going to be I don't know that I'm gonna be

14:01

able to get it back on. And the

14:03

fact that he was willing to do that, I

14:05

think is just such a great representation of how

14:07

much drive he had. He goes out

14:09

before the championship game, basically whispers

14:11

to his assistant coach, hey, I can't move out

14:13

here, we gotta get out here. They

14:16

limp, they throw him in an old ESPN broadcast

14:18

room in the back and he's doing post moves

14:20

back there. So that's how bad this guy wanted

14:22

to play and wanted to have that ultimate moment.

14:25

So how did Baycott play in that championship

14:27

game as he was gutting it out through

14:29

that badly sprained ankle? He played well.

14:31

He was leading all scores at halftime.

14:33

Big foul with the follow and a

14:35

foul. And Carolina can

14:38

take the lead at the line. That's the

14:40

advantage of that size. Differential, a

14:42

big fellow. A lot

14:44

of guts with this kid. It's one of

14:46

the grittier performances I've ever seen at any

14:48

level of sports. I mean, I've covered the

14:50

NFL, covered the NBA, covered the Olympics, and

14:53

what he did that night was just sheer

14:55

will, sheer will. Johnson rocks it, Obagi comes

14:57

over, and who scores anyway?

14:59

North Carolina getting it from side

15:01

to side. Exploiting the mismatch, big

15:03

foul. Really having an impact

15:06

inside of both ends. I mean,

15:08

there's no way he should have been able to be out there. He

15:10

could barely walk. And he's

15:12

dominating. North Carolina goes on and puts

15:14

together the fifth largest halftime lead ever

15:16

in an NCAA title game. They're 20

15:18

minutes away from having this moment. And

15:21

in the second half, everything started to fall

15:23

apart. In the final minute of the game,

15:25

North Carolina's down by one. It

15:27

gives the ball to Baycott, and the

15:29

ankle finally gives. Baycott, the

15:32

court. He's headed up from the court, and

15:34

he's hurt. He is hurt, and

15:37

he is still down. He has

15:39

to be helped off the court. It's totally shot.

15:41

And ultimately, that was the basket

15:43

that would have given North Carolina the lead with less than

15:45

a minute to play in the national championship. And he never

15:48

checked back in. Well, it's gonna be the one

15:50

to take it. The ball is

15:52

shot, and oh, the game is

15:54

over! Time!

16:01

He watches his Kansas, his confetti falls, and he

16:03

can't even walk off the court alone. He basically

16:05

has to be carried off in this confetti shower

16:07

that was supposed to be for him. And

16:10

this incredible month that he's put together,

16:12

this awesome record, all of a sudden,

16:15

poof, snap of the fingers, it all means nothing.

16:19

Okay, coming up, Armando Baycott finds

16:22

a silver lining in that devastating

16:24

loss. And why the big

16:26

man is back at UNC for one

16:28

final run. Have you heard you can listen

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catch up with Amazon Music on Amazon Music.

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And catch up with Amazon Music on amazon.com/news

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ad free. And catch up on the latest

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episodes without the ads. Well,

17:11

Brendan, there was a silver

17:13

lining to UNC's crushing loss

17:15

to Kansas for Armando Baycott

17:17

personally. He suddenly became

17:20

pretty famous and very marketable.

17:23

Can you tell us about Baycott's rise in the NIL

17:25

world? Absolutely. So

17:27

name image and likeness goes into effect essentially

17:29

in July of 2021, July

17:32

1st. And on July 2nd, Armando's on

17:34

a Zoom with his mom and with an advisor saying,

17:36

okay, what do we do with this thing? What is

17:38

NIL? How do I make this work for me? And

17:42

at first, as with many athletes, it's a

17:44

pretty minor deal. It's a local burger shop.

17:47

It's signing some autographs. It's a basketball camp back

17:49

in Richmond. Nothing major, just enough to get some

17:51

dollars in his pocket. And then

17:54

North Carolina goes on this run. They

17:56

go to the final four. He is a

17:58

legend. He ties David Robinson. single-season double-double

18:01

record. And in the course of

18:03

the NCAA tournament, Armando texts his advisor at one point and

18:05

goes, I think I'm going to

18:07

be a little more marketable now. His advisor

18:09

texts back, yeah, yeah, you are going to

18:11

be marketable now. And so after the season

18:13

ends, this dude has more deals than he

18:16

can even imagine. He's swimming in them, drowning

18:18

almost. And he ends up getting a part

18:20

on Outer Banks, the Netflix show. I was

18:22

actually supposed to be shooting today in some

18:25

of our, we had practice and it was like another time

18:27

too I was supposed to be shooting. So I don't know,

18:29

they might be mad at me right now, Netflix, because I

18:31

keep having to cancel for the practice. But I

18:34

mean, it's been a great experience. He buys

18:36

a steak and a horse at the Kentucky

18:38

Derby. He's there dressed to the nines. He's

18:41

flying around the country for all these

18:43

product deals and endorsements. Once he got to

18:45

March Madness, really everything changed. I started to

18:47

see those huge brands that

18:49

I never really have a chance to be

18:51

a part of, like when I partnered with

18:53

me and things like that. And I mean,

18:56

it was really cool. He becomes one of

18:58

the early faces of the NIL movement. And

19:00

as his mother would tell Sports Illustrated that

19:02

year, essentially in the course of

19:04

a summer he made upwards of $500,000. That's

19:08

not a bad chunk of change to stay in

19:10

college for. So

19:12

the fact that he has this gregarious personality,

19:14

the fact that he is six

19:17

foot 10 and this huge dude and he's

19:19

hilarious and the fact that he does have

19:21

the national pedigree that he has from playing

19:23

in North Carolina, but also from that Final

19:26

Four national championship run, it kind

19:28

of comes together to create this perfect storm. And

19:30

he's not afraid to be in the public space.

19:33

After a game they had against Virginia, he had a double

19:35

double. I think he set a career high for rebounds and

19:37

he texted his biggest manager, tell Windex what's up,

19:39

because he was thinking about how he cleaned the

19:41

glass. He's told me that

19:43

he's upset. There's no in and out burger in North Carolina

19:45

because he would like to have a double double deal. And

19:48

so the NIL factor for him certainly has been

19:50

a key reason why he has ended up being

19:52

in school for so long. He's one of the

19:54

most successful and marketable athletes in America. And

19:57

again, without that, I would say there

19:59

is a. next to 0% chance that he is still

20:01

at North Carolina for his fifth season right now. Well,

20:04

Brendan, as you wrote, there was also

20:06

a downside to Baycott's NIL success story

20:08

when it came to his basketball career.

20:11

What did you learn about that? Yeah,

20:13

so after North Carolina goes on that final

20:15

four run, he's having all the success and

20:18

everybody wants to partner with him. And that's

20:20

great. He goes, he does all the deals,

20:22

makes a ton of money, creates some lasting

20:24

connections. You know what he doesn't do?

20:26

He doesn't rest at all. He doesn't plan

20:28

any time into his schedule to just get

20:31

healthy. Basketball wise, I worked my

20:33

tail off, but like, I think health wise, I did

20:35

a terrible job of rehabbing

20:37

and getting back fully healthy and then

20:39

just carrying on even to the

20:42

start of practice last year. I just wasn't all the

20:44

way right. And you know, this

20:46

cantaloupe of an ankle that he had, it's not

20:48

going anywhere quickly. You know, you need to give

20:50

that thing some time to heal. And it's not

20:52

like he was missing workouts. He was at everything

20:54

he was supposed to. He's doing his skills training,

20:57

but just no rest. And that was the effect

20:59

that you saw early in the season. Last year,

21:01

he started to break down. He hurt

21:03

his ankle almost immediately as soon as the

21:05

season started. He hurt his shoulder as a

21:08

result. He hurt his other ankle. He just

21:10

gave his body no time to recover, in

21:13

part because he was trying to make

21:15

the most of this window of opportunity that

21:17

he thought he had with NIL. And so

21:19

they start the season as number one in

21:21

the country. David Davis and the Tar Heels

21:23

went on a surprising run to the National

21:25

Title Game last season with four starters back,

21:27

including Big Matt Armando Baycott. The Tar Heels

21:29

earned 47 of 62

21:31

first place boats easily. And these

21:34

expectations are everywhere. They're on the cover

21:36

of Sports Illustrated. He's preseason All-American. You

21:38

know, he was considered a front runner

21:40

immediately as soon as the season started.

21:42

He hurt his shoulder as a result.

21:44

He hurt his other ankle. He just

21:46

gave his body no time to recover,

21:49

in part because he was trying to make the

21:51

most of this window of opportunity that he thought

21:53

he had with NIL. And so they start the

21:55

season as number one in the country. Hubert Davis

21:57

and the Tar Heels went on a surprising run

22:00

to the National Title Game last season. surprising run

22:02

to the national title game last season with four

22:04

starters back including big man, Armando Baycott, Natar Heels

22:06

earned 47 of 62 first

22:08

place boats easily and these

22:10

expectations are everywhere. They're on the cover

22:13

of Sports Illustrated He's preseason all-american, you

22:15

know, he was considered a front-runner for

22:17

national player of the year coming off

22:19

that performance and It

22:22

didn't happen. They lose a couple of games.

22:24

They probably shouldn't and by

22:26

December they've lost four in a row gone

22:29

from number one to completely out of the top 25 and never

22:32

really figured it out from there and basically

22:35

it got to the point where UNC needed

22:37

to win the ACC tournament to even make

22:39

the NCAA tournament again and they lost that

22:41

game and Carolina fans seem

22:43

to understand So

22:49

then to get an NCAA Bit

22:51

and they might be looking at a trip to the NIT and that is

22:53

how North

22:56

Carolina became with Armando Baycott as

22:58

its face The only

23:00

preseason number one team since NCAA the

23:02

tournament expanded in 1985 to miss the

23:04

field altogether Well after

23:06

the disappointment of not making the

23:08

NCAA tournament It seems like

23:10

Armando Baycott found himself at a crossroads

23:12

again in his college career after four

23:15

years at UNC Can you

23:17

tell us about the decision he was facing and

23:19

what he ultimately decided to do After

23:21

going through all he had been through quite

23:23

literally the highest of highs and the lowest

23:25

of lows I mean this man has been

23:27

the hero of America and the

23:29

NCAA tournament he, you know vanquished coach K for

23:32

good slave the dragon, however, you want to say

23:34

it and He had

23:36

also been the face of a historically

23:38

bad collapse He had

23:40

both but he still didn't necessarily

23:43

have that legacy that he had always kind of

23:45

wanted for himself Like I really

23:47

care about like leaving this place at a good point

23:49

and you know I really care about

23:51

like how the fans perceive me

23:53

and I think last year I didn't

23:55

want to like be remember like that was the last thing

23:57

I left, you know, he hadn't

23:59

done it enough to earn having his

24:02

jersey honored at North Carolina. So

24:04

when he was looking up in those rafters and

24:06

seeing all those legendary players, he's seeing Jordan and

24:08

worthy and Perkins, he's seeing all these guys. And

24:11

for as much as he had done, he's not up there yet. And

24:14

basically, the way he conveyed it to me is he

24:16

walked into the practice gym one day after the season,

24:18

he looks up, he looks to his left sees, okay,

24:20

no title banner, looks to the right says, okay, I'm

24:22

not up there either. He goes in and

24:24

sits down with his assistant coach and his assistant coach says,

24:26

hey, you know, you're gonna get drafted if you go, you'll

24:29

be a second round pick, you'll be able to carve out

24:31

a role. And he basically comes

24:33

to the assistant coach and said, No, I'm not done

24:35

yet. I got unfinished business still. And he decides to

24:37

come back for his fifth year and cement

24:39

what is going to be one of

24:41

the more fascinating UNC legacies of all

24:43

time, regardless of what happens this year,

24:46

but certainly again, was I think considering

24:48

leaving very strongly. But that legacy

24:50

piece, man, it just keeps tugging at him. How

24:52

has big hot played the season?

24:54

And looking past this year, what are

24:56

his NBA prospects? Is it fair to

24:59

say that this year could potentially be

25:01

his last big chance in the national

25:03

basketball spotlight? It's definitely fair to say,

25:05

you know, he is a guy who like

25:07

many conventional big man is going to have

25:10

to prove that he is good enough at

25:12

one particular skill to

25:15

be able to make it to the NBA.

25:17

And for him, it's rebounding. He's North Carolina's

25:19

all time leading rebounder. He's passed all

25:22

of the legends to ever play

25:24

at North Carolina. Tyler Hansborough, Mitch

25:26

Kupchak, Antoine Jameson, Rashid Wallace legends

25:28

in the NBA too. And he's

25:30

now atop that list. And

25:33

he's played well this year. North Carolina is having,

25:35

I think you could argue it's best regular season

25:37

since he's been there. He's been a double double

25:39

fixer again. And he's one

25:41

of the reasons why they are back in the

25:43

national conversation, essentially for the first time since before

25:46

he was in school there. And so

25:48

yeah, if he continues playing the way he's

25:50

playing now, if he continues making

25:52

North Carolina fixture in the top 10

25:54

top 15, if he's able to go

25:57

on another one of those runs, and if he is

25:59

able to finally put either a national

26:01

title banner or his own jersey banner

26:03

up in the Smith Center rafters, yeah,

26:06

he's going to get a shot in the NBA. He's going

26:08

to be a second round pick. But he's told me he

26:10

looks at guys like Kevin Looney and says, you know, I

26:12

can do that. I can be that guy. And so if

26:15

he plays to his potential this year, he's

26:17

going to have that opportunity. But obviously,

26:20

so much of his legacy in North

26:22

Carolina, his long term basketball legacy, what

26:24

he becomes in the NBA, it

26:26

all hinges on these next four months. And so that's why

26:28

I thought it was, you know, fascinating the first place to

26:30

kind of look at this long winding

26:32

journey and how now these are

26:34

essentially the most important four months of this guy's career.

26:37

And finally, Brandon, what would Armando Baca

26:39

consider a success this year? Is a

26:41

national title the only thing

26:43

in his mind and the

26:46

minds of fans that would cement

26:48

his UNC legacy? I

26:51

think it's that or getting his individual jersey

26:54

hung up in the rafters. And to do

26:56

that, it's a very specific set of criteria,

26:58

you either have to be a first or

27:00

second team All-American, you have to be

27:02

the ACC Player of the Year, or you have

27:04

to be the most outstanding player of a national

27:06

championship team, which is what he would have been

27:08

had North Carolina beaten Kansas in that game two

27:10

years ago. And so I think

27:13

he has that opportunity. He was one of the

27:15

front runners racing player of the year in the

27:17

preseason. If he doesn't get either of those, I

27:19

don't know that he's going to consider this year

27:21

success. I don't know that he'll consider his career success

27:23

if he doesn't get that. And so, you know, we

27:25

are told not to root for players, but for somebody

27:28

who is as good a guy as he is, who's

27:30

been through as much as he has, I think it's

27:32

just really easy to empathize with Armando's journey and sort

27:34

of to hope that he gets what really he's wanted

27:36

his entire life. Well, thank you so

27:39

much for telling the story, Brendan. Fascinated to see how

27:41

the rest of the season plays out. Absolutely. I

27:43

appreciate you guys letting me share it. You

27:46

can find the link to Brendan Marks' full story

27:48

about Armando Baca in our show

27:50

notes and follow his coverage of

27:52

UNC and Duke at the athletics.com.

27:57

Okay, that's it for today. The

28:00

rest of our team includes Joe Richardson, Matt

28:02

Beagle, and Daniel Gonsivnos. Our

28:16

executive producer is Anders Keltow. The

28:18

lead is executive producer Dave Easton, Marsha

28:21

Lewy, and Erin O'Flaherty for Wundery.

28:24

From Wundery, I'm Tiffany O'Sinski. We'll talk to

28:26

you next week. Hey,

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