Memorial High’s super hoops team suffers blow, but remains a potent squad

Before Memorial High could find out just how good its basketball team could be thanks to influx of talent over the summer, the Panthers lost a key player.

Point guard Nimari Burnett, a freshman All-American last season in Chicago, elected not to transfer to Memorial and instead has enrolled at Prolific Prep in Napa.

Burnett, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, is considered to be in the upper levels of the 2020 recruiting class, with offers from Illinois and DePaul.

“Nimari was registered and everything,” Memorial coach Brad Roznovsky said. “He had a chance to go to a prep school and he’s chosen to go the prep school path. When you’re a high-profile player, you get those opportunities sometimes.”

Prolific Prep, located about an hour north of San Francisco, specializes in helping elite-level players earn a college scholarship and plays higher-level competition around the country.

Memorial still has Jalen Green, perhaps the most talented player in the Fresno area.

The 6-foot-5 sophomore has received offers from Duke and North Carolina and is ranked as the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2020 by Rivals.com.

In addition, 6-foot-6 transfer Dameane Douglas, who averaged roughly 30 points per game last season at Hanford West, has seven offers, most notably from Loyola Marymount.

Guard Lunden Taylor, a 6-3 senior and two-time County/Metro Athletic Conference MVP, picked up an offer from UC Riverside.

And 6-6 forward Jonah Geron, who’s considered to have one of the best outside touches in the Central Section, announced on Twitter that he will continue his career at Washington as a preferred walk-on.

Geron had offers from smaller schools, including Montana State, but decided to try to earn a scholarship over time at Washington.

“I understand that I probably won’t play my first two years,” Geron said. “But if I accepted an offer from a small D-I school, there’s no gurantee I’d play early either.

“The coaches basically told me that I had a spot on the team and I just need to work and prove that I deserve a scholarship.”

Memorial finished 26-7 last season, was the section Division II runner-up and reached the second round of the CIF State regional playoffs.

“We won’t have Nimari,” Geron said. “But I think we’re still going to be a very good team.”

This story was originally published September 16, 2017 at 12:55 PM with the headline "Memorial High’s super hoops team suffers blow, but remains a potent squad."