Armando Bacot’s college career at North Carolina would have played out very differently in the NIL era - and even by today’s standards, the money he says he made is eye-popping.
Bacot recently opened up about how fast the landscape changed and how little players understood at first. In an interview with former North Carolina player Theo Pinson, via USA Today, he said he walked into college basketball without any real sense of what was coming.
“I had no clue," Bacot told former North Carolina player Theo Pinson in a recent interview, per USA Today. "I didn’t know what I was doing.
Because you go from that to like being a millionaire, that fast. It was crazy because we didn’t realize it.
I made $2 million plus. I’m saying that humbly though.
That speaks on the brand of Carolina because if I didn’t go to Carolina, these deals with Turbo Tax, all those people, they wouldn’t do with me.
“If you go to Carolina, you handle business, you go out there and play, somewhat be marketable, it pays. That’s what I’m saying.
I could never say a bad word about Carolina. I got life-changing money.
I’m from Richmond. I got life-changing money in college just off playing basketball.
That’s why I’m forever thankful for Carolina, the brand, because to be able to make over $2 million just in college is crazy.”
That kind of money is staggering, but Bacot also made clear why he believes it happened: the North Carolina brand carries real weight. He pointed to those deals with Turbo Tax and said that kind of opportunity followed him because of where he played.
The broader point is simple enough. NIL money keeps climbing, and the numbers players can command now keep getting bigger. Bacot was already one of the country’s top big men year after year, so in this current climate, he would have been positioned to cash in even more at UNC.
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