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CHAPEL HILL – As North Carolina’s 16-point win over Georgia Tech slowly crept toward its conclusion, the Smith Center got a bit of a jolt when the thirteenth scholarship Tar Heel to play in a game this season got up from his seat on the bench to check in at the scorer’s table.

Seconds later, a foul was called on Georgia Tech’s Jordan Meka, sending UNC star forward Armando Bacot to the free throw line with 2:22 remaining.

On the surface, these weren’t pressure-packed free throws. But then again, they kind of were.

Kneeling in front of the scorer’s table was freshman forward Jalen Washington waiting to check in for Bacot, who turned in a 20-point, 13-rebound performance in UNC’s 75-59 victory. But Washington had to wait because Bacot, set to attempt two free throws, had to make the second one in order for Washington to enter the game then instead of having to wait until the next dead ball.

Bacot missed the first, however, and then the tension mounted.

“It did put a little pressure on,” Bacot said after the game. “I’m like, ‘Dang, I can’t miss this…’ I definitely wanted to get him in the game.”

He sank the second one sounding the horn. Washington stood up and entered the game, receiving his second ovation in about a 90-second span. The fans understood how big a deal this was.

For the first time in nearly two years, Washington had entered into a non-AAU game, having overcome a pair of injuries to his right knee, the latter a torn ACL in the summer of 2021, forcing the 6-foot-10 native of Gary, IN, to miss his senior season in high school.

But there he was, a triumphant moment in a game that had a 20-point margin with 2:22 remaining on the clock when he walked onto the court. Then, with 49 seconds left, Washington converted a turnaround jumper in the lane for his only points, and the first of his Carolina career.

“It felt great,” Washington said, before relaying how UNC Coach Hubert Davis went about telling him he was going into the game. “I think there were like four minutes left on the clock, and he was just like, ‘Be ready at a timeout.’

“And I was still preparing myself. I had been ready all game, and I was just ready for my time to get out there.”

It came much to the approval of everyone in the building aside from the Yellow Jackets.

“I know the road that he has taken to get here, and for him to be out there on the floor,” Davis said, stopping there as it appeared he might choke up before continuing. “When we walked into the locker room, (UNC Sr. Associate A.D./Strategic Communications) Kirsch (Steve Kirschner) said, ‘And a career-high for Jalen.’ And the whole team sprayed water on him.”

Kirschner usually reads out noteworthy numbers to the team after games. And even though Bacot tied Billy Cunningham for the all-time UNC record for most double-digit rebound games (61), and passed George Lunch for third all-time on Carolina’s career rebounding list, the man of the hour to the Heels was Washington.

“Oh yeah, we drenched him,” Bacot said, wearing a huge smile. “We threw water all over him. He’s worked so hard battling his injuries. It’s been great, and we’re all happy for him.”

There were times when Washington wasn’t sure this moment would ever arrive. Two injuries on the same knee, the second one dropping him from a 5-star prospect to a mid-4 star was the product of the bad knee and simply not playing.

For so long, getting into a game on this kind of stage wasn’t at all the focus, in part because it sometimes seemed as if it might not happen.

“Yeah sure, I've had some doubts throughout the process,” Washington said. “But again, having a great circle and great parents and having great people around me advising. Just praying a lot and keeping strong faith. I just stayed positive throughout the whole journey.”

Washington was also aided by UNC’s cautious and practical approach.

The Tar Heels are a talented club, a reason they started the season ranked No. 1 in the nation. There wasn’t any need to rush Washington along. Confidence in the knee is one thing, but the mind clearing the clutter often caused by bad injuries often takes longer.

“It's all a part of growing as a person,” Washington said. “I had to prepare myself and my body as an athlete knowing I had to work myself back in the game in phases. It's been great to be able to take on that new perspective, and I will always attack things 100 percent.”

And, he knows that patented turnaround jumper, that is all the rage among the Tar Heels, is always in his back pocket.

Junior guard, and team prophet, Caleb Love predicted Friday that Washington would display a turnaround J that is “unguardable.”

His coach says, “It is (unguardable). He’s really good at it.”

So, Bacot knew what was coming.

“I knew once he got the ball, the turnaround J was coming,” the Preseason ACC Player of the Year said.

Washington’s line: two points, 1-for-1 from the floor; no rebounds, assists, blocks, steals, turnovers, fouls. Just the shot, two big ovations, and a drenched uniform courtesy of his thrilled teammates.