Alabama transfer Nimari Burnett commits to Michigan basketball

Nimari Burnett was a top target for Michigan and coach Juwan Howard coming out of high school years ago.

While Burnett initially didn’t end up in Ann Arbor, he’s headed there now, as the Alabama transfer announced his commitment to the Wolverines on Thursday.

“Michigan is the best place for me to thrive, offensively and defensively,” Burnett told On3.com. “I’ve known coach Juwan Howard for a long time now, ever since I was a kid. I’ve always had a good relationship with him, and I just felt it was the best place for me to be.”

Burnett, a former McDonald’s All-American from Chicago, entered the transfer portal on Tuesday after spending the last two seasons at Alabama.

This past season, Burnett started nine games for the Crimson Tide, before he missed time because of a wrist injury. Once he returned, he came off the bench and finished the season averaging 5.6 points, two rebounds, 0.7 assists and 14.7 minutes, while shooting 32.1% from 3-point range in 27 games.

"It's about doing what’s best for yourself," Burnett told The Next Round about his decision to transfer. "Although that may sound a certain way, it's not. You came into this situation to better yourself as a player and as a person. Although I have done that, I do think I can get even better, be in a better situation.

"At the same time, when it comes to the players on this team and the coaching staff, it wasn't like I was super disgruntled and hated everything. It was actually a very tough decision. There was a lot of thought going into it the last few days."

Burnett, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound guard, listed Michigan among his five finalists coming out of California’s Prolific Prep, along with Alabama, Louisville, Oregon and Texas Tech. He picked Texas Tech, where he started his college career and played in 12 games in 2020-21 as a freshman.

He then transferred to Alabama but missed his sophomore year due to a preseason knee injury. He didn’t make his Crimson Tide debut until this season as a redshirt sophomore. He began the season in the starting lineup until he suffered the wrist injury in December, which sidelined him for a month.

Since Burnett has already transferred once, he’d likely need to graduate or receive a waiver to play right away at Michigan. The Wolverines have lost one starting perimeter player, freshman wing Jett Howard, this offseason and could lose another if sophomore guard Kobe Bufkin also opts to leave for the NBA Draft.

“Definitely want to be able to play right away and contribute right away,” Burnett told The Next Round. “Part of that is becoming a grad transfer. I’ve collected enough credits — we’ll see how those credits transfer to the next place I go to. Kind of getting that done over the summer and going from there.”

jhawkins@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @jamesbhawkins