Michigan Basketball: What Nimari Burnett’s top 5 means for Wolverines

Earlier today one of the top ballers in the country announced his top five and Michigan basketball made the list. Here’s what that means.

One of Michigan basketball‘s top targets for 2020 is the very talented Nimari Burnett. So talented in fact that the typical ranking websites have him somewhere in the top 20 nationally.

According to 247Sports, Nimari is ranked seventh in Illinois, the fifth combo guard, and 23rd nationally. ESPN placed Burnett at 21st and Rivals has Burnett sitting at 23rd and while those numbers are exciting, Nimari’s latest announcement that should really get Michigan fans hyped about the future of their team.

On his Twitter page, Burnett dropped his top five which include Michigan basketball, Louisville, Alabama, Texas Tech, and Oregon.

What does this mean for the Wolverines?

This means that UM is making a splash in the recruiting market much larger than it did before. As the days pass and the season grows near, more and more of the top basketball players across the country are naming Michigan as one of their favorites going forward. Guys like Isaiah Todd, Lance Ware, and Hunter Dickenson are just a few of the names that included Michigan in their ever-thinning lists of top schools.

In Burnett’s case, this announcement shows that Juwan Howard’s Chicago roots are working very well for him. So far, Howard has garnered interest from several of the best prospects in the country and Burnett is a prime example of Juwan’s recruiting splash in his home state.

“I’ve known Juwan Howard since I was little and for him to be a coach of a program that not only he came from but is also a good school means a lot,” Burnett told Stockrisers.

This announcement also shows that Howard could set the record for the most talented recruiting class for Michigan since he first landed on campus as a member of the Fab Five. Should Burnett commit to Michigan, he would be the second-highest recruit to arrive in Ann Arbor behind Glenn Robinson III, according to 247 Sports (rankings only go back to 2000).

Burnett and those other top players would make up a class for Michigan in just two years time. Juwan Howard’s super hero’s of the court, leading the Wolverines back to dominating the NCAA Tournament. A pipe dream at this moment but all the buzz is with the Wolverine camp.

Burnett did not give any indication regarding when he plans to commit and has revealed little as to the school he feels closest with. 247 sports has one crystal ball prediction for Alabama while Rivals believes Illinois will be Burnett’s collegiate landing spot even though the Fighting Illini weren’t named as one of the top five schools.