Five-star guard Nimari Burnett includes Michigan Basketball in final five schools

Nimari Burnett is one of the top prospects in the country and is yet another elite prospect to be on the radar of the Michigan Wolverines basketball program, now lead by head coach Juwan Howard.

Burnett, who is a Chicago native but attends Prolific Prep in Napa, California, revealed his top five schools on Monday with Michigan in the mix along with Alabama, Louisville, Oregon and Texas Tech. He is a five-star prospect and the fifth-ranked combo guard in the nation for the class of 2020, according to the 247Sports composite.

“Juwan Howard, we go way back since I was about eight years old,” he said, via Evan Daniels of 247Sports. “We are basically like family, him and his sons and his wife we all have a good relationship. I feel like he’s going to be a really good coach at Michigan. It’s just a school and coach that you could trust, and I feel like I can trust him a lot.”

Burnett has been in Ann Arbor on an unofficial visit last season when Michigan State was in town and has an official visit set for Sept. 6. John Beilein originally offered him before Howard re-extended it after he was hired. Four-star forward Lance Ware is also set to be in town the weekend of his official visit.

247Sports’ Brian Snow compares Burnett to Isaiah Whitehead of the Brooklyn Nets and believes he can be a first-round talent heading into the NBA:

“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. 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.”

Michigan currently has one player committed to the 2020 class in four-star guard Zeb Jackson with three scholarship spots remaining.