Burnett played basketball for the eighth grade team at Beasley Elementary for three years and won a city championship.[1][2] In his freshman season, he played for Morgan Park High School in Chicago and was teammates with junior Ayo Dosunmu.[3] Burnett helped his team win the Class 3A state title, scoring 20 points in the championship.[4] He earned MaxPreps Freshman All-American second team honors.[5]
Entering his sophomore year, after initially enrolling at San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno, California, Burnett transferred to Prolific Prep, a national program based in Napa, California and began attending Napa Christian Campus of Education.[6][7] He missed five weeks of his sophomore season with a broken hand.[8] On April 14, 2019, Burnett won a gold medal with Attack at the USA 3x3 Under-18 Championship with teammates Devin Askew, Dawson Garcia and Ethan Morton.[9][10] As a senior, he averaged 25.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game for Prolific Prep.[11] Burnett was named Finals MVP of the Grind Session World Championship after scoring 37 points in a win over Our Saviour Lutheran School in the title game.[12] He was selected to play in the McDonald's All-American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic, but both games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]
On November 12, 2019, Burnett committed to play college basketball for Texas Tech over offers from Alabama, Oregon and Michigan, among others. At number 19 by ESPN, he became the highest-ranked recruit in program history. Burnett explained, "I chose Texas Tech because of the winning culture of the program and the coaching staff. It felt like a big family."[14]
On December 6, 2020, Burnett recorded a freshman season-high 12 points and six steals in an 81–40 win over Grambling State.[15] On January 7, 2021, he left Texas Tech for personal reasons. As a freshman, Burnett came off the bench, averaging 5.3 points and 1.8 rebounds through 12 games.[16]
Alabama
On April 8, 2021, Burnett announced that he had committed to Alabama.[17] He was ruled out for the season on September 8, after undergoing right knee surgery.[18]
Michigan
On March 30, 2023, Burnett announced he would be transferring to the University of Michigan. In 2023, he set career highs in every major statistical category with the exception of free throw percentage, steals and blocks per game. He averaged 9.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists, while shooting 40% from the field and 35% from three point territory. On November 13, 2023, Burnett scored a career-high 21 points against St. John’s, all in the first half.[19]
On April 30, 2024 Burnett officially announced he would be staying in Ann Arbor for his fifth collegiate season under new coach Dusty May.[20]
National team career
In 2019, Burnett helped the United States win its first gold medal at the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. He accumulated 40 points, the fifth-most in the tournament.[21] He also won silver medal at the dunk contest.[22]
Burnett's mother Nikki Burnett opened a dollar store and became a real estate broker by the age of 25. Nikki created basketball apparel clothing lines BasketballMom and HoopLegend Apparel. She also helped start the Lifetime reality show Bringing Up Ballers, which follows the lives of several Chicago-based entrepreneur mothers whose children are talented basketball players. Burnett is one of the players featured in the show.[23]
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