Legendary UNC Basketball Star Grew Up Rooting For Duke

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07/02/2024 04:29 PM

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 04: Dereck Lively II #1 and Dariq Whitehead #0 of the Duke Blue Devils defend Armando Bacot #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during the first half of their game at the Dean E. Smith Center on March 04, 2023 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Armando Bacot may be the face of UNC basketball right now but the Tar Heels big man admittedly grew up a Duke fan.

During a recent appearance on the "Run Your Race" podcast with North Carolina alum Theo Pinson, Bacot shared that he actually loved the Blue Devils and hated UNC as a kid.

Even committing to Carolina, for me, was crazy because — a lot of people don't know this. I grew up a Duke fan. Like, you can go on my FaceBook – and it had surfaced on Twitter a little bit. But, like, there's pictures of me. Like, I went to the Duke Basketball camps, everything. So, like, I grew up a Duke fan. I loved Jahlil Okafor, Jabari Parker. Those were like my two favorite college players. I'll never admit it but I'll admit it now. I'm not in college now. So I grew up a Duke fan, hated Carolina.

The Richmond, VA native added that while he's fallen in love with the university that he chose, he doesn't really have any deep hatred for the school in Durham.

"People don't know it because I'm all Carolina, all that," Bacot said. "I mean, honestly, like, I don't even really still got that big of a problem with Duke."

This isn't the first time Armando's comments might've rubbed fans in Chapel Hill the wrong way. Back in May, he chose LeBron James over UNC legend Michael Jordan in the GOAT debate.