Alabama Transfer Nimari Burnett Commits To Michigan

Earlier this week, the Michigan Wolverines got some exciting news as the program learned Alabama transfer Nimari Burnett would be committing to the program. This marks a major addition for Juwan Howard as he hopes to build to get Michigan back on track next season.

Burnett has been through a lot already in his young career. He initially committed to Texas Tech over Michigan and various other schools. However, after he was relatively underutilized by Chris Beard and staff, he transferred to Alabama, where he sat out the 2021-’22 season and returned to action last year. Burnett only saw limited time there, grabbing a bench role. He did score 11 points in Alabama’s opening win in the NCAA Tournament.

Generally speaking, it’s pretty hard to project what Burnett will be in Ann Arbor. He was a McDonald’s All-American in high school and apparently did enough to attract attention from Beard and Nate Oats. That’s a major feather in his cap. However, it’s also hard to overlook three years of underwhelming results. And even if he was buried on loaded rosters, Wolverine fans are hoping Michigan can get back to the highest levels of college basketball next season, so struggling against tougher competition isn’t great news.

There’s also plenty of other pieces moving around on Michigan’s roster right now, so it’s anyone’s guess how things look when Burnett arrives. Jett Howard and Hunter Dickinson are departing, Kobe Bufkin could soon follow, and Michigan is looking at a major challenge at getting Joey Baker another year of eligibility. Everything is moving right now, which makes it even tougher to slot Burnett into a potential lineup.

All told, there’s no telling how Burnett will perform in Ann Arbor, but Howard and fans have to be excited about his potential next season.