Grind Session: Big time junior Nimari Burnett talks recruiting

BENTON, Kent. -- One of the premier scorers in the class of 2020, shooting guard Nimari Burnett is playing the game with loads of confidence.

The 6-foot-4 junior at Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep currently ranks No. 26 nationally and says that the confidence is beneficial as he's completing his second season in California after making the move from Chicago.

“The confidence helps tremendously," Burnett told Rivals.com. "I pride myself on working on every aspect of my game and I know that confidence and the mental aspect of the game is a big part of it. I really wanted to focus on and improve with that as my game has evolved. It’s led to me having a better year this year.”

This winter Burnett has seen Arizona State, Louisville and Michigan and has additional offers from Arizona, Cal, Illinois, Indiana, Marquette, Ohio State, Oregon, Stanford and Vanderbilt to name a few.

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.Burnett discussed how his three in-season unofficial visits went along with interest from his home state school, Illinois.

Arizona State: “It was really good visit there. I got a chance to talk to all of the coaches on the staff. My mom lived down there for a little bit so it was cool to see that and I really enjoyed that visit."

Illinois: “They are chasing after me really hard and I know they want me to come home. Coach Chin Coleman keeps in touch with me almost every day and we have constant dialogue. They are recruiting me very hard."

Louisville: “It was very good. I got the chance to talk coach Luke Murray for a bit. I didn’t get a chance to talk to Chris Mack but I watched the game when they played Virginia. They lost as well. I started thinking like dang is this my fault (they are losing) after Michigan lost when I was there too. But I had a really good time. The whole visit was pretty good."

Michigan: "Michigan was a very good visit. I enjoyed it a lot. I went to the game where they played Michigan State. Unfortunately, they lost but it was still a good game. I had a chance to talk with the assistant coach Luke Yaklich for a bit and I talked to Coach (John) Beilein for a bit too and it was a good conversation. It was relatively short because it was before a game but I understand that. The next day I was supposed to go visit the school and academic programs and things like that but unfortunately, I came down with the flu so I couldn’t physically go there. Other than (getting sick) I really enjoyed the visit.”

A skilled scorer who can shoot with range, put the ball on the floor and a sneaky athlete, Burnett isn't anywhere near making a decision at this point.

He'll play with Los Angeles based Team WhyNot? on Nike's EYBL circuit this spring and summer and see who else jumps in. In addition to the in season visits Burnett took, he saw Stanford and USC during the fall and mentioned that he might like to get back to Stanford and threw out Marquette as another he might like to see soon.