How Sean May’s influence is helping Armando Bacot have special season for UNC basketball
One of the early conversations North Carolina assistant coach Sean May had with junior forward Armando Bacot before last offseason was about the NBA.
May helped Bacot understand the reason Day’Ron Sharpe was drafted in the first round after just one year with the Tar Heels was because he had a tangible skill at which he is elite.
“And I told him, you have all the tools but you got to be elite at something to get to that level,” May said. “You can’t just be good — and he was a good rebounder — you have to be great in some area.”
That day, May and Bacot talked about his individual goals for the season, and the first one was to lead the ACC in rebounding.
Bacot not only, as May put it, “destroyed the league in rebounding,” it helped him post his nation-leading and ACC record-tying 29 double-doubles this season as he averaged 16.5 points and 12.8 rebounds per game.
Ask Bacot what’s been behind the best season of his career, and May’s promotion to full-time assistant coach is near the top of the list.
“It’s definitely done wonders for my game, just being able to have him out and just for him to be able to coach me everyday,” Bacot said. “Everyday we talk and he’s just telling me things I can do to get better.”
May’s No. 42 jersey hangs among those honored in the Dean E. Smith Center rafters for being named Most Outstanding Player of the 2005 Final Four. He was one of the best post players during Roy Williams’ 18 seasons in Chapel Hill.
That’s why it was important to UNC coach Hubert Davis to promote May from director of basketball operations to assistant coach so he could work with players on the court now.
“Sean is so accomplished, not only here but also in the NBA,” Davis said. “He’s a fantastic coach and communicator and his relationships with the players are just off the chart. And I just think it’s really important for a big guy to have another big guy on staff that played at that institution and played in the NBA. I think that having that experience and that knowledge right there every day is so invaluable.”
May’s career accomplishments have led to a season-long back-and-forth with Bacot because he’s spent nearly every game chasing them in some form.
“Just having him out there on the court has been great and that has also allowed me to kind of have something to try to compete with,” Bacot said. “I kinda want to put up better numbers than him. So that’s kind of a little type of conflict we’ve been having all year just arguing about our seasons.”
Bacot joked the reason why he wanted to win ACC Player of the Year was because May didn’t do that in his three seasons at UNC from 2002-05 and it would have given him an upper hand.
May has helped Bacot become a more consistent player this season. In his first two seasons, Bacot had the dubious habit of making himself invisible. That was typified by the Heels’ loss at Clemson, where as a sophomore he had only one field goal attempt and finished with one point.
“The thing I tried to tell him even some last year, but moreso this year, is, you’re the best player on the floor, act like it,” May said. “And that means every night, you got to be reliable.”
What’s helped Bacot become more reliable is when he and May go over video breakdowns of his play and his opponents. That was May’s duty when Williams first brought him on staff in a supporting role.
May said Bacot is more athletic than he was as a player, but he’s tried to help in the ways that don’t depend on being athletic.
“He’s gotten a lot better at seeing the action before it happens, recognizing when to roll when not to roll and how to seal which allowed him to be more effective,” May said. “I was a below the rim player so I relied on film and positioning and timing to be effective. And I’ve tried to help him in some of those areas.”
Judging by Bacot’s season, it’s working. But it seems like nothing has been more effective than Bacot trying to best May’s stats.
Before the Heels played Saint Peter’s in the Elite Eight, Bacot asked what he needed to do to be able to top May. Back in 2005 against Wisconsin, May scored 29 points with 12 rebounds.
“I told him if I get 20 and 20, does that mean I’m better than you?” Bacot said. “And he was like, ‘Yeah.’ And I actually ended up getting 20 and 20.”
Bacot had 22 rebounds to be exact, to go along with his 20 points against the Peacocks.
After Carolina’s final practice of the season in the Smith Center on Wednesday, May told Bacot that he surpassed him so improving on old stats should no longer be the goal.
What is at stake is beating Duke to get Carolina to the national championship game on Monday.
“It ain’t about the numbers at this point,” May told Bacot. “You gotta finish it.”
This story was originally published April 2, 2022 at 8:57 AM.