Nimari Keith Burnett (born December 20, 2001) is an American college basketball player for the Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference. He previously played for the Texas Tech Red Raiders and Alabama Crimson Tide.

Nimari Burnett
Burnett at the Nike EYBL in 2019
No. 4 – Michigan Wolverines
PositionShooting guard
LeagueBig Ten Conference
Personal information
Born (2001-12-20) December 20, 2001 (age 23)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High school
College
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's 3x3 basketball
Representing  United States
FIBA Under-18 World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2019 Mongolia Team

Early life

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Burnett played basketball for the eighth grade team at Beasley Elementary for three years and won a city championship.[1][2] In his freshman season, he played for Morgan Park High School in Chicago and was teammates with junior Ayo Dosunmu.[3] Burnett helped his team win the Class 3A state title, scoring 20 points in the championship.[4] He earned MaxPreps Freshman All-American second team honors.[5]

Entering his sophomore year, after initially enrolling at San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno, California, Burnett transferred to Prolific Prep, a national program based in Napa, California and began attending Napa Christian Campus of Education.[6][7] He missed five weeks of his sophomore season with a broken hand.[8] On April 14, 2019, Burnett won a gold medal with Attack at the USA 3x3 Under-18 Championship with teammates Devin Askew, Dawson Garcia and Ethan Morton.[9][10] As a senior, he averaged 25.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game for Prolific Prep.[11] Burnett was named Finals MVP of the Grind Session World Championship after scoring 37 points in a win over Our Saviour Lutheran School in the title game.[12] He was selected to play in the McDonald's All-American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic, but both games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]

On November 12, 2019, Burnett committed to play college basketball for Texas Tech over offers from Alabama, Oregon and Michigan, among others. At number 19 by ESPN, he became the highest-ranked recruit in program history. Burnett explained, "I chose Texas Tech because of the winning culture of the program and the coaching staff. It felt like a big family."[14]

College recruiting information
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Nimari Burnett
SG
Chicago, IL Prolific Prep (CA) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Nov 12, 2019 
Star ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN:    ESPN grade: 93
Overall recruiting rankings:   Rivals: 39  247Sports: 38  ESPN: 22
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "Texas Tech 2020 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  • "2020 Texas Tech Red Raiders Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  • "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 2, 2020.

College career

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Texas Tech

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On December 6, 2020, Burnett recorded a freshman season-high 12 points and six steals in an 81–40 win over Grambling State.[15] On January 7, 2021, he left Texas Tech for personal reasons. As a freshman, Burnett came off the bench, averaging 5.3 points and 1.8 rebounds through 12 games.[16]

Alabama

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On April 8, 2021, Burnett announced that he had committed to Alabama.[17] He was ruled out for the season on September 8, after undergoing right knee surgery.[18]

Michigan

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On March 30, 2023, Burnett announced he would be transferring to the University of Michigan. In 2023, he set career highs in every major statistical category with the exception of free throw percentage, steals and blocks per game. He averaged 9.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists, while shooting 40% from the field and 35% from three point territory. On November 13, 2023, Burnett scored a career-high 21 points against St. John’s, all in the first half.[19]

On April 30, 2024 Burnett officially announced he would be staying in Ann Arbor for his fifth collegiate season under new coach Dusty May.[20]

National team career

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In 2019, Burnett helped the United States win its first gold medal at the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. He accumulated 40 points, the fifth-most in the tournament.[21] He also won silver medal at the dunk contest.[22]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2020–21 Texas Tech 12 0 17.7 .280 .174 .889 1.8 0.9 1.4 0.5 5.3
2021–22 Alabama Did not play (injury)
2022–23 Alabama 27 9 14.7 .368 .321 .780 2.0 0.7 0.4 0.1 5.6
2023–24 Michigan 32 32 31.3 .399 .347 .721 4.1 2.4 0.9 0.4 9.6
2024–25 Michigan 11 11 24.5 .493 .400 .714 3.5 1.3 0.8 0.5 8.9
Career 82 52 22.9 .393 .334 .776 3.0 1.5 0.8 0.3 7.5

Personal life

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Burnett's mother Nikki Burnett opened a dollar store and became a real estate broker by the age of 25. Nikki created basketball apparel clothing lines BasketballMom and HoopLegend Apparel. She also helped start the Lifetime reality show Bringing Up Ballers, which follows the lives of several Chicago-based entrepreneur mothers whose children are talented basketball players. Burnett is one of the players featured in the show.[23]

References

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  1. ^ O'Brien, Michael (December 6, 2016). "O'Brien: Ayo Dosunmu, freshman Nimari Burnett help Morgan Park survive Bogan". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  2. ^ Burgess, Scott (June 7, 2016). "Recruiting Report: Nimari Burnett (2020)". Prep Hoops. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  3. ^ Disabito, Pat (December 6, 2016). "Fresh(man) face: Nimari Burnett big in backcourt as Morgan Park overpowers Bogan". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  4. ^ O'Brien, Michael (June 16, 2017). "Star guard Nimari Burnett leaves Morgan Park". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  5. ^ "2016-17 MaxPreps Boys Basketball Freshman All-American Team". MaxPreps. April 18, 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  6. ^ James, Marty (May 27, 2019). "Nimari Burnett and Jalen Green to try out for USA Basketball's U19 World Cup Team". Napa Valley Register. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  7. ^ Anteola, Bryant-Jon (September 16, 2017). "Memorial High's super hoops team suffers blow, but remains a potent squad". The Fresno Bee. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  8. ^ Stephens, Mitch (January 25, 2018). "Top high school basketball players ready for 'Crush'". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  9. ^ "Champions Crowned at USA Basketball 3x3 U18 National Championships". USA Basketball. April 14, 2019. Archived from the original on April 15, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  10. ^ "Team Photos: 2019 USA Men's 3x3 U18 Nationals". USA Basketball. April 2019. Archived from the original on May 28, 2022. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  11. ^ Divens, Jordan (March 25, 2020). "MaxPreps 2019-20 High School Boys Basketball All-American Team". MaxPreps. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  12. ^ Tomes, Evan (March 24, 2020). "The Grind Session World Championship". NBADraftnet. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  13. ^ Jordan, Jason (March 12, 2019). "McDonald's All American Game Cancelled Amid COVID-19 Concerns". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  14. ^ Biancardi, Paul; Borzello, Jeff (November 12, 2019). "Nimari Burnett, ranked No. 19 in ESPN 100, commits to Red Raiders". ESPN. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  15. ^ "Recap: No. 17 Texas Tech 81, Grambling 40". Texas Tech Red Raiders. December 6, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  16. ^ "Texas Tech Nimari Burnett opts out of basketball season". The Athletic. January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  17. ^ "Texas Tech transfer Nimari Burnett chooses Alabama basketball". Tuscaloosanews.com. April 8, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  18. ^ "Alabama's Nimari Burnett to miss season after knee surgery". ESPN. September 8, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  19. ^ "Michigan basketball's guards have career nights in 89-73 win at St. John's". Detroit Free Press.
  20. ^ "Nimari Burnett to Return for 2024-25 Season". UM Hoops.
  21. ^ "Nimari Burnett". USA Basketball. July 17, 2019. Archived from the original on January 26, 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  22. ^ "History". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
  23. ^ Monique, Porsha (April 23, 2017). "Nikki B. of Lifetime reality series 'Bringing up Ballers' talks NBA prodigy son". Rolling Out. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
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