GREENSBORO, NC – In Armando Bacot's eyes, three absolutes mark his freshman season: Confidence; bounce and knowledge.

And that’s where Bacot’s mindset was not long after North Carolina’s season came to an end Wednesday night.

The Tar Heels finished 14-19 overall on the year while Bacot was about as up-and-down as seemingly possible. That’s a quick and apt description of how things went for the Tar Heels and for Bacot. The 2020-21 campaign, he says, will be different.

“Next year, my purpose every day is to go out there and kick (expletive), I just can’t wait,” the freshman forward said.

There’s no shortage of things to work on, from his body and skills to his mind, he acknowledges. And Bacot is ready to tackle everything in this bountiful basket of must-dos significantly improve from this season, one in which he averaged 9.6 points and 8.3 rebounds for the Tar Heels.

First up is his mindset. That transition commenced earlier this season, so Bacot’s words following the loss to Syracuse in the second round of the ACC Tournament should be comforting to those with a rooting interest in his progress.

“Knowing how I approach anything in life now, not taking the short cuts, just going all out,” he said, when asked what was the most important thing he learned this season.

Next up is his body, in particular the part that's closest to the floor. Bacot suffered a serious ankle injury seven minutes into a home loss to Ohio State in early December, and while he played several days later at Virginia, it took some time before he trusted the ankle, and his numbers showed it.

In a five-game stretch surrounding Christmas, Bacot was 9-for-38 from the field, with most of the misses coming from within several feet of the basket. He fought through but banged up both ankles a few more times. In fact, he played only 22 combined minutes during UNC’s three-game win streak late in the season.

So, getting healthy and stronger to prevent a repeat as a sophomore will be a point of emphasis this offseason.

“My feet down, ankles, just improving those things,” he said. “I thought early in the year I had a lot more bounce to myself and a lot quicker off the ground, could move better laterally. So, trying to get my ankles ready and trying to be 100 percent.”

And next up is incorporating what he’s learned into the frame of his game more fortifying himself in every way for the grind and challenges of a season. Undersatnding leads to maturity.

“I feel like I need to work on everything for next year just to be a better player,” Bacot said. “I think where I failed myself this year was second guessing myself, just not being aggressive and I (had) a lot of doubt.

“Looking back at it, (there’s) a lot of stuff I felt like I could have done for the team this year that I didn’t do.”

If one might add a fourth, maturity would apply. But, Bacot is already showing solid signs that process is in effect. Acknowledging what he did Wednesday is important and impressive. He’s going into the offseason armed with a clear understanding of what he must do to creep closer to hitting his potential.

And if Bacot does that, the NBA could become a viable option. He’s not talking about the pros now, and even suggested he will return to UNC next season. But he’s well aware of how considerable his upside is and appears intent on steeply climbing in that direction.