Michigan basketball: 5 Wolverine targets to keep an eye on

Nimari Burnett

The guy who can render LaVar Ball speechless is a guy that is a perfect fit for Michigan basketball. That’s just what Nimari Burnett did when he and his AAU team Prolific Prep dominated LaVar’s son, LaMelo Ball, and his team Spire, 94-59.

On August 12th, we will see if that perfect fit is still considering Michigan.

Who is Nimari?

“A big-bodied guard who excels both on and off the ball. When he plays on the ball, he uses his frame with great length to overpower defenders and get to into the lane. Once there, Burnett shows solid floor vision and is good at finding shooters,” 247Sports Brain Snow wrote in his evaluation. “When he plays off the ball, Burnett makes himself into a scorer who can get buckets by both attacking the basket and from deep. While he is a better athlete than most expect at first blush, he does need to continue to get into better shape – which should help all aspects of his game.”

The Chicago native is ranked seventh in Illinois, fifth at his position (combo guard), and 23rd nationally. Nimari is also a five-star with a 9911 composite rating.

The most important information from the two sentences above is that Nimari is a Chicago native. He’s a native of Juwan Howard’s old stomping grounds and Juwan took notice of this young man a long time ago.

“Well, I (known) him since I was seven or eight, somewhere around there,” Burnett said of Howard. “We have a really good relationship and we talk to him almost every day. So, he’s a really good recruiter.”

This is one of those instances where Beilein leaving actually helped Michigan.

“(Howard’s presence) means a lot,” Burnett said. “They are currently higher on my list than they were before. Based off of the relationship we have already they are in a better position.”

Look for this talented star to dawn the maize and blue in two years.