Why Nimari Burnett chose to return for sixth season of college basketball: 'Michigan means everything to me'

Michigan Wolverines basketball graduate guard Nimari Burnett had a tough decision after the season but ultimately decided to put the NBA on hold and return for a sixth year of college hoops.

Burnett is the team’s lone player that ended the season as a starter to return for 2025-26, though senior guard Roddy Gayle Jr. opened 25 of his 36 contests.

“I love Michigan, and that’s the ultimate reason why I came back,” Burnett said on the ‘Defend The Block’ podcast with host Brian Boesch. “Not only for the team that [head coach] Dusty [May] is building — it’s absolutely amazing — and the year that we just had. That was also amazing.

“But everything that Michigan means to me, it’s like a family atmosphere here at the University of Michigan, and I’ve enjoyed every single bit of it. I enjoy working with the staff and playing in front of the fans, against whoever we may play. It’s been a blast in my two years here, and I plan to finish my collegiate career strong up at Michigan.”

Burnett started deliberating on what he would do next one day after Michigan fell to Auburn in the Sweet 16.

“Literally the next day,” he said. “And sometimes you wanna take a deep breath, which I did. That day was very deep breath worthy, knowing that I had big decisions to make.

“I didn’t know, even after that day, if I was gonna come back or go pro, but I wanted to at least put it into thinking and discuss it with Dusty and make sure that it was best for both sides. That’s exactly what I started to do, and make sure that I’m in the best position and best-case scenario to contribute to whatever situation I’m going into.”

In 2024-25, he registered 9.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per contest, while shooting 62.7 percent on two-pointers (52-of-83) and 40 percent on threes (66-of-165). Per Kenpom, his offensive rating took a huge jump from 104.2 in 2023-24 to 117.4 in 2024-25.

Burnett has gone through a ton of change during his college career, which began at Texas Tech in 2020-21 and continued at Alabama from 2021-23. He’s happy to return to Michigan for a third-straight season and, this time, have the same staff to work with.

“It’s huge,” the Michigan guard said. “It’s everything, man, especially because I’m so used to change throughout my collegiate career, and to be able to come back … not saying that last year to this year was unstable … but a super stable situation, where everything is the same as far as staff, it means everything.

“Even after this year, we did really, really well. I was almost thinking one of the coaches was going to get a head-coaching job somewhere, and you’re always ready for that possibility with the landscape of college basketball and coaching nowadays. But to come back and have my guys back, I’m truly looking forward to getting back in the gym with those guys and getting ready to win it all this upcoming year.”

The Wolverines won eight games in 2023-24, Burnett’s first season with the program, before stacking 27 victories, winning the Big Ten Tournament and advancing to the Sweet 16 in their first year under May. That gives Burnett confidence that more success is on the way.

“It was a big part of the reason I felt so comfortable coming back,” he pointed out. “So comfortable with this staff, and within that comfortability there’s also a lot of work being put into it. But I enjoyed being coached by the staff, by Dusty and working with the guys every single day.

“The group of guys that’s coming back from last year and the new group of guys that Dusty has gotten has played a major factor in that.

“Me coming back was always in question, but also it was a possibility. Making sure that Dusty would love to have me back was a perfect situation for me, as well, and was a big part of why I was like, ‘Yes, let’s do it.’”

Redshirt senior forward Will Tschetter, Gayle, sophomore guard L.J. Cason and Burnett make up a bulk of Michigan’s core for next season, and continuity is key.

“Unity is so important, especially with the current landscape of college basketball and the influence and impact that the transfer portal has had on it,” Burnett explained. “I believe having younger guys like L.J. coming back, and Roddy is entering the vet stage of his collegiate career, along with me and Will, it means so much to keep a group of guys together and continue to build on what was already a successful season coming off of.

“It’s like the Detroit Pistons run. Detroit and the University of Michigan have that in common. To be able to do it with those guys, especially a great group of guys as far as personalities and character, is definitely very important.”

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Burnett recently got engaged to his fiancée, Diana Kannan, while on vacation in St. Barth. Now, he’s ready to attack the offseason.

“Specifically on the floor, work on areas of the game that you know that you need to improve on, that you talked to the staff about that you want to improve on, and really attack those areas, while also refining your strengths and making sure that you’re getting a lot of shots up, getting a lot of reps on those things,” the Michigan guard said of his focus this offseason. “You want to be the best version of yourself, so right now that’s what I’m in, sharpening my game as I do each and every season. It becomes more and more detailed every year.

“As far as off the court, really unwinding, enjoying time off, enjoying not getting up and down the entire time, spending time with family, spending time with close friends and enjoying just time so that you can be refueled and reinvigorated going into the summer practices and getting with the team and doing something special with them.”