The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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44 THE WOLVERINE ❱ FEBRUARY 2025 ❱ MICHIGAN BASKETBALL and played in all 48 games in a Maize and Blue uniform. "I made a joke a little bit ago to [radio voice Brian Boesch] so I hate to be repet- itive. I said that the Michigan fans need to get really creative and get to Wiki- pedia and go to the page that says 'ef- ficient' and post his picture," May said after a 91-75 win over Washington Jan. 12. "There can't be another basketball player in the country who's playing as efficient basketball as Nimari Burnett. "He's given himself to the team. He's done everything we've asked him to do. He's as consistent with his work as any- one in our program. He's almost robotic in his approach. He's a great example for young players, especially ones whose success didn't happen as quickly as they want. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, especially with older players flooding our game. And so he's a testa- ment to all that's right in college basket- ball. He's found a situation where he fits well with his teammates. He represents this place at the highest level as far as character and work ethic. "And man, he's fun to coach. He's banging in shots. He's making good reads. He's scrappy on the glass, and he's defending at a high level as well. I'm so very, very grateful he decided to stay and continue as a Michigan man." It helps to have a roster in place with a plethora of scoring options, headlined by the play of big men Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin. The fact that anyone can star on a given night has helped his game to blossom with others showing up in scouting reports. "It definitely helps me, takes a lot of pressure off me and the rest of us," Bur- nett said. "Those two guys are elite at what they do — two different skill sets but they complement each other so very well — so it's about staying ready each and every chance I get." Burnett brings with him not only the experience, but has also been one of the team's leading defenders and makers of "invisible plays." That makes him one of the team's most critical pieces as it guns for a Big Ten championship and more. "I can't imagine any wing in the country that's bringing more to his team than Nimari. I could talk about it for days," May said. — Anthony Broome OSCAR GOODMAN JOINS PROGRAM, WILL REDSHIRT U-M added one of its signees to the roster officially Jan. 7, when four-star prospect Oscar Goodman joined the team for the winter semester. The NBA Global Academy star out of New Zealand will redshirt the rest of this season and be ready to play in 2025-26. "The NBA Academy is a very structured elite training environment," May said Jan. 12. "We just floated that he was already done with the schoolwork, that it would help him be more ready to play next year. And whatever that means, we don't know. Who knows what the roster's going to look like, but he would be more ready to play if he had a semester of practicing against Vlad and these guys. "The speed, the size, the athleticism and also learning our system — so he's more used to playing with guys, he's more used to playing with Roddy Gayle or Tre Donaldson or whatever the case. He's a worker. He's a tough, tough kid. He brings some similar qualities, and I don't want to get ahead of myself be- cause we haven't evaluated him enough with us, but he brings some very similar qualities as Will Tschetter, as far as his consistency and his work ethic." Goodman, who On3 ranked as the No. 25 power forward and No. 100 overall prospect in the 2025 class, was part of a three-man group that signed in No- vember along with four-star guard Trey McKenney and four-star forward Win- ters Grady. "The belief the coaches had in me was a big thing," Goodman told the media Jan. 12. "My goal is to make the NBA, and Coach May was a real big believer that I have a chance at cracking it. That was a big thing, and then the opportunity to play. He didn't say that I was going to play, but he said that I could fight for a position to play early on." — Anthony Broome U-M's 2025 power forward signee Oscar Goodman, a New Zealand native who previously played for the NBA Global Academy, reclassified to the 2024 class and joined the team in early January. He will redshirt the remainder of the season and play in 2025-26. PHOTO COURTESY OSCAR GOODMAN