Louisville basketball picks up crystal ball projection for five-star guard

Louisville basketball recruiting is heating up and by the looks of recruiting experts projections, a commitment could be coming soon.

With all of the focus on the upcoming Louisville football season, Louisville basketball preparations for the 2019-2020 season and recruiting in the 2020 class has been quiet.

While second-year head coach Chris Mack currently doesn’t have any commitments in the class of 2020, it is very clear by the visitor list in September that things are looking up for the Cards.

After landing a premier class dubbed the “Super Six” in the class of 2019, it’s given Mack and his staff the confidence and ability to target and potentially land commitments from some of the top prospects in the class of 2020.

With six official visits scheduled through the end of September for the Louisville basketball program, the next phase will be closing and landing commitments from the bevy of four and five-star talent they host.

One five-star guard who is scheduled to visit next month has been a top target of Mack for over a year now, and the hard work the staff has put in seems like it could be close to paying off.

After offering him a scholarship during his junior season, Nimari Burnett has quickly become one of the top targets in the class of 2020 for the Louisville staff.

The Chicago product who now plays his high school ball for Prolific Prep in Napa, California recently cut his list down to his final five schools, keeping Louisville squarely in the mix along with Michigan, Alabama, Texas Tech, and Oregon. Now with his official visit coming up in the next few weeks, Louisville seems to be in a great spot – at least enough to get a crystal ball prediction from 247 Sports Dylan Prezkop.

At this point, it seems like a three-team race between Louisville, Michigan, and Alabama – who also has a CB from 247 Sports.

Burnett has said on multiple occasions that the relationship with the Cardinal staff is extremely strong, noting they’ve been in on him for a while now. He’s already been to Louisville for an unofficial visit, where he, unfortunately, saw the Cards lose to Virginia, but it was enough for him to truly believe he could see himself playing at the Yum! Center.

He told Cardinal Authority, “We have a very good relationship and talk all the time. They say I can come in and be a very integral part of the team’s success.”

So what would the Cards be getting if they landed Burnett?

To start, they’d be landing their second five-star player of the Chris Mack era, a feat in and of itself considering where the program was said to be recruiting wise after the firing of Rick Pitino and FBI Investigation.

247 Sports Recruiting Analyst Brian Snow says:

"“A big-bodied guard who excels both on and off the ball. When he plays on the ball, he uses his frame with great length to overpower defenders and get 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.”"

Louisville will lose guards Fresh Kimble and Ryan McMahon to graduation in 2019, leaving just Darius Perry, David Johnson, and Josh Nickelberry for the 2020-2021 season. With Jordan Nwora also likely to head off to the NBA following 2019 season, Mack and his staff will desperately need another lethal scorer to play alongside Samuell Williamson, assuming he’s back for his sophomore season.

Burnett showed all summer that he can be that guy. He was one of the best combo guards across the Nike EYBL Circuit playing for Team WhyNot, and did a great job of displaying new areas of his game in front of big audiences at Peach Jam.

Whether or not Mack will be able to close the deal with Burnett is unknown at this point. Bu with the OV locked in for September and a crystal ball prediction today, things look to be headed in the right direction.