Duke basketball: Armando Bacot rips UNC recruit after decommitment

A Duke basketball rival didn’t hesitate throwing any shade towards a former recruit. 

The archival of the Duke basketball program, the North Carolina Tar Heels, lost its commitment from four-star point guard Simeon Wilcher earlier this week.

Wilcher committed to the Tar Heels back in October 2021 and signed with the program in November 2022, but things turned sour after Hubert Davis landed a commitment from five-star guard Elliot Cadeau as he reclassified from 2024 into 2023.

Cadeau was a former New Jersey high school basketball player, like Wilcher, but transferred from Bergen Catholic (N.J.) to Link Academy (Mo.) for his junior year and was prolific at GEICO Nationals as well as on the EYBL circuit.

However, North Carolina superstar Armando Bacot didn’t mince words once the news dropped that Wilcher would not be coming to North Carolina, tweeting “Running from the grind.”

ALSO READ: Duke to host familiar name during anticipated matchup

The tweet has since been deleted by Bacot.

Wilcher responded by reposting a video to his Instagram that stated he was not joining the Tar Heels because there would be a lack of playing time for him with the addition of Cadeau, plus RJ Davis returning for another season.

https://twitter.com/GrantHughesNC/status/1666229205158305797?s=20

Duke basketball loses some interesting luster from its rivalry

Ironically, Simeon Wilcher’s high school teammate at Roselle Catholic (N.J.), Mackenzie Mgbako, requested out of his National Letter of Intent to Duke once star freshman Kyle Filipowski announced he would be returning to the program for his sophomore season.

The two players were excited about the potential of playing against each other twice next season when they signed their National Letters of Intent and would become the first high school teammates to attend the iconic basketball schools since Adrian Griffin and RJ Davis from Archbishop Stepinac (NY).

ALSO READ: Jeremy Roach appears in walking boot at K Academy

Mgbako, a McDonald’s All-American, eventually committed to Indiana after also visiting St. John’s and Kansas.

Wilcher is scheduled to visit St. John’s and head coach Rick Pitino this week and there have been no reports of any other visits at this time.

The 247Sports recruiting rankings still show Simeon Wilcher as a member of the North Carolina recruiting class, which is ranked as No. 8 in the country, as four-star forward Zayden High is the only other member of the group for head arch Hubert Davis.