Published Aug 13, 2019
Three-Point Play: Nimari Burnett, more reclasses coming, Jaxson Robinson
Eric Bossi  •  Basketball Recruiting
National Analyst
Twitter
@ebosshoops

Five-star Nimari Burnett has cut his list down to five and will soon begin visits. Meanwhile, Jonathan Aku was the latest from the class of 2020 to enroll as a 2019 prospect, but he won't be the last and four-star junior wing Jaxson Robinson has a handful of unofficial visits planned. Eric Bossi takes a look in today's Three-Point-Play.

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1. TAKING A LOOK AT NIMARI BURNETT'S FINAL FIVE

One of the premier perimeter scorers in the class of 2020, five-star shooting guard Nimari Burnett announced Monday that he is down to a final five of Alabama, Louisville, Michigan, Oregon and Texas Tech.

So far, the scoring machine at Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep has booked official visits with the Wolverines (Sept. 6), Cardinals (Sept. 13) and Crimson Tide (Sept. 27).

Let's take a quick look at the case that each of his finalists could be making. While at Buffalo, Alabama's Nate Oats and staff recruited Jeenathan Williams a teammate of Burnett's at Prolific Prep. Since getting the job in Tuscaloosa, they've made him a priority. Louisville and Chris Mack have probably been recruiting Burnett the longest and he's already been on campus unofficially. Michigan's Juwan Howard has known Burnett (who visited Ann Arbor last season as well) for several years and has made him a priority for his first class, Oregon is the lone West Coast program remaining and Texas Tech is relatively new to the party and coming off an appearance in 2019's national title game.

I don't know that I could call any program or another the flat out leader at the moment, but I do believe that as he heads into his visits the three schools that he has set visits with are just ahead of the pack and if I had to put money on it as of today, I would say that i see this one coming down to a race between Oats and Howard to land their first signature recruit at new jobs.

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2. EXPECT MORE PLAYERS CURRENTLY IN 2020 TO ENROLL FOR 2019

On Sunday, four-star big man Jonathan Aku became the latest from the class of 2020 to move back a class when he committed to Texas A&M and chose to enroll for the 2019-20 school year. Reclassification (or in many cases actually enrolling with a player's original class) has become pretty common the past few years, but whereas the class changes used to happen more commonly in May or June, the timeline is getting extended.

With that in mind, I don't expect Aku to be the last from the class of 2020 to not end up playing high school ball this year. As I look at our rankings for 2020, four players stand out to me as the most likely to not finish as members of the current senior class: five-stars Makur Maker and N'Faly Dante and four-stars Addison Patterson and Dajuan Harris.

In the case of Maker, exactly what will happen is a bit more murky. He's currently ranked in the top five for 2020 but has been ruled ineligible to play this season in California and is currently without a school. Rumors have been swirling that he could enroll in a college but lately there has been much talk that he's considering going the pro route (most likely to Australia like R.J. Hampton and Lamelo Ball) but he's been mum on the topic so far. However, based on what I have heard, I'd expect a resolution on Maker's status to happen soon.

As for Dante, we've detailed the near 7-foot shot blocker here plenty and I don't think it's a matter of if, but simply when he makes a 2019 move official. That should happen in the near future and I still see it as a toss-up between Kentucky and Oregon. My pick has been John Calipari and the Wildcats for the last few weeks but the Ducks have a great shot here as a decision nears. *(Editor's note, Dante committed to Oregon Tuesday afternoon)

Originally from Canada, Patterson has never shied away from the fact that he's likely to end up in the class of 2019. So, his move has been one that we've been expecting for a while now. If he does go ahead and enroll for 2019-20, I see Oregon as the favorite to win out for the high-flying finisher.

Finally there is Harris, who was recently elevated to No. 83 overall in 2020 when big man Elijah Hutchins-Everett moved to the class of 2021. He's committed to Kansas and is hoping to finish up some coursework that would allow him to enroll with his natural graduating class of 2019. Even if he does enroll for this season, though, I'd look for him to take a redshirt year to get acclimated. I'd look for an answer on his status towards the end of the month.

One more note on Aku -- he was replaced at No. 99 overall in the 2020 rankings by previously unranked power forward Max Murrell who just finished an official visit to Stanford.

3. FOUR-STAR JUNIOR JAXSON ROBINSON SET FOR VISITS

One of the most coveted wing scorers in the class of 2021, 6-foot-6 shooting guard Jaxson Robinson of Ada (Okla.) currently ranks No. 41 nationally in the junior class.

After a strong spring and summer with Team Griffin, Robinson now holds offers from Arkansas, Baylor, Houston, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Tulsa, UT-Arlington and Wake Forest and he's going to hit the visit trail pretty heavy this fall.

Robinson just wrapped up an unofficial visit to Arkansas over the weekend and his mother Brandi McWilliams tells me that he has a handful more planned.

This weekend, Robinson will hit TCU and then he'll return for their elite camp the next week. After that, visits are planned for Oklahoma on Sept. 7 and Texas A&M on Sept. 14.

With others including Kansas, Illinois, New Mexico, Texas Tech, Wichita State and more involved, Robinson's recruitment is in the early stages and figures to turn into one of the biggest battles in the Midwest.