Michigan basketball notebook: Dusty May on 'efficient' Nimari Burnett, Oscar Goodman joining team

Michigan Wolverines graduate guard Nimari Burnett was one of the holdovers from the Juwan Howard era, but much of the offseason hype revolved around the new pieces on the roster and the depth that Dusty May had built in a short period.

Now, Burnett is one of the team’s most indispensable pieces.

The fifth-year guard is playing an off-ball role that better suits him, and with good health and plenty of pieces around him is thriving in a career season. Through Jan. 12, Burnett was averaging a career-high 10.9 points per game and shooting career-high percentages from the field (56.7%) and three-point range (50.7%) while starting all 16 games. In fact, after an injury-plagued start to his career at Texas Tech qand Alabama, Burnett has started and played in all 48 games in a Maize and Blue uniform.

“I made a joke a little bit ago to [Michigan radio voice Brian Boesch] so I hate to be repetitive. I said that the Michigan fans need to get really creative and get to Wikipedia and go to the page that says ‘efficient’ and post his picture,” May said after a 91-75 win over Washington on Jan. 12. “There can’t be another basketball player in the country who’s playing as efficient basketball as Nimari Burnett. 

“He’s given himself to the team. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. He’s as consistent with his work as anyone in our program. He’s almost robotic in his approach. He’s a great example for young players, especially ones whose success didn’t happen as quickly as they want. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t, especially with older players flooding our game. And so he’s a testament to all that’s right in college basketball. He’s found a situation where he fits well with his teammates. He represents this place at the highest level as far as character and work ethic. 

“And man, he’s fun to coach. He’s banging in shots. He’s making good reads. He’s scrappy on the glass, and he’s defending at a high level as well. So very, very grateful he decided to stay and continue as a Michigan man.”

It helps to have a roster in place with a plethora of scoring options, headlined by the play of big men Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin. The fact that anyone can star on a given night has helped his game to blossom with others showing up in scouting reports.

“It definitely helps me, takes a lot of pressure off me and the rest of us,” Burnett said. “Those guys two guys are elite at what they do — two different skill sets but they complement each other so very well — so it’s about staying ready each and every chance I get.”

Burnett brings with him not only the experience, but has also been one of the team’s leading defenders and makers of ‘invisible plays.’ That makes him one of the team’s most critical pieces as it guns for a Big Ten Championship and more.

“I can’t imagine any wing in the country that’s bringing more to his team than Nimari. I could talk about it for days,” May said.

May, Goodman discuss decision to join Michigan early

Michigan added one of its signees to the roster officially on Jan. 7 when four-star prospect Oscar Goodman joined the team for the winter semester. The NBA Global Academy star out of New Zealand will redshirt the rest of this season and be ready to play in 2025-26.

“The NBA Academy guys, they’re in a very structured elite training environment,” May said after the Washington game. “We just floated that he was already done with the school work, that it would help him be more ready to play next year. And whatever that means, we don’t know. Who knows what the roster’s gonna look like, but he would be more ready to play if he had a semester of practicing against Vlad and these guys. 

“The speed, the size, the athleticism, and also learning our system. So he’s more used to playing with guys, he’s more used to playing with Roddy Gayle or Tre Donaldson or whatever case. He’s a worker. He’s a tough, tough kid. He brings some similar qualities, and I don’t wanna get ahead of myself because we haven’t evaluated him enough with us, but he brings some very similar qualities as Will Tschetter, as far as his consistency and his work ethic.”

Goodman, who On3 ranked as the No. 100 overall prospect and No. 25 power forward in the 2025 class, was part of a three-man class that signed in November along with five-star guard Trey McKenney and four-star forward Winters Grady.

“The belief the coaches had in me was a big thing,” Goodman told the media on Jan. 12. “My goal is to make the NBA, and Coach May was a real big believer that I have a chance at cracking it. So that was a big thing, and then the opportunity to play. He didn’t say that I was going to play, but he said that I could fight for a position to play early on.”