Texas Tech basketball: 5-star Red Raider target sets commitment date

Nimari Burnett, a 5-star guard and top-25 player in the class of 2020 has set his commitment date and the Texas Tech basketball program is squarely in the mix.

It’s been less than a week since top-50 guard/forward Micah Peavy verbally committed to the Texas Tech basketball program and now, Red Raider fans are about to find out if another elite 2020 prospect is headed to Lubbock.

Friday, 5-star guard Nimari Burnett Tweeted that he will be announcing his college choice on Tuesday, November 12th.  He has Tech, Alabama, Michigan, and Oregon in his top-5 and despite getting into the race for his services later than the other contenders, it is believed that the Red Raiders are one of the favorites.

Rated by 247Sports as the No. 22 player in the nation, the Chicago native is considered the No. 5 guard in his class.  At 6-foot-3, 185-pounds, he could conceivably play both point guard and off guard, which would make him a great fit in Chris Beard’s motion offense.

In addition to his top four schools, such prestigious programs as Arizona, Indiana, Louisville, Ohio State, and UCLA were among the 20-plus schools to offer Burnett a scholarship.  But Tech did not get into the race until long after most of the other schools.

In August, Beard added former Texas A&M assistant Ulrich Malagi to his coaching staff.  Considered an ace recruiter, the Arlington, Texas native quickly began recruiting Burnette for the Red Raiders and now it appears that we are about to find out if his efforts will bring this program another blue-chip prospect.

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"“A big-bodied guard who excels both on and off the ball,” writes Brian Snow of 247Sports on Burnett’s profile page. “When he plays on the ball, he useshis 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.”"

In 20 games this summer for team WhyNot, a top club team based in California, Burnette averaged 19.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3 assists per game.  He shot 30.7% from 3-point range and managed to get to the free-throw line 5.4 times per game.

So how much of a shot does Tech have in this race?  247Sports’ crystal ball prediction gives Alabama a 67% shot at landing Burnett with Tech second at 33%.  However, there are just three people contributing to that prediction page so there’s no way to believe that this prediction is gospel.

Meanwhile, Tech is the leader over at Rivals. com by holding 75% of their experts’ predictions.  Alabama is second with 25% of the vote.  Interestingly, in the last week, both Corey Evans and Zach Berry, two of Rivals’ experts, changed their predictions to the Red Raiders.

Burnett was in Lubbock for an official visit on October 19th, a week prior to his official visit to Oregon.  Now, it looks like he’s made his decision.

If Tech lands this coveted prize, it will be the highest-rated player to ever commit to the Red Raiders.  He would also be the program’s fourth top-100 commit in the last two years joining Peavy in the class of 2020 and current true freshmen Jahmi’us Ramsey and Terrence Shannon Jr.

Regardless of how this recruiting battle plays out, it is a further reminder of how the program has changed in just three years.  Chris Beard continues to work miracles on the South Plains and if he adds Burnett, he will have brought yet another superstar recruit to Tech.