Alabama Basketball's Nimari Burnett Enters the Transfer Portal

Burnett is the first player from this year's roster to enter the portal.

© Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK

Alabama men's basketball already had two coaches on the move, and now a player is on the move as Nimari Burnett has entered the transfer portal.

In 26 games for the Tide last season, Burnett averaged 5.5 points and two rebounds on 35.8 percent shooting from the field and 31.7 percent from the 3-point line.

Burnett started his college career at Texas Tech, where he averaged a similar stat line for the Red Raiders. After his freshman year, he transferred to Alabama, where he had to sit out the next season because of a torn ACL.

When the 2022-23 season began, Burnett was a starter under Nate Oats and he quickly proved his value with his perimeter shooting and defense. The best example of that is how well he defended Houston's Marcus Sasser in Alabama's early season win against the Cougars.

Burnett's early success was halted when he suffered a wrist injury to his non-shooting hand. He missed six weeks from early December to mid-January when guard Jaden Bradley rose to prominence in that time.

When Burnett returned, Bradley remained the starter as Alabama was on a hot streak, and Burnett was slowly working back into the rotation. He still played a healthy number of minutes, but then they decreased as the regular season ended.

Burnett only played a combined 11 minutes in the SEC tournament. And in a losing effort to San Diego State, he only played eight minutes.

Now the junior guard will look for a new home, likely for a bigger role after being on a team that was loaded with guard talent.

See also: 2023 NFL Draft Profile: Alabama Safety Jordan Battle

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