Over the last year, I've used the word intentional when talking about Michigan men's basketball.

Head coach Dusty May and his assistant coaches are intentional about pretty much everything around

the program. Some of the mysteries surrounding Michigan last May aren't so mysterious anymore because

of that approach. If you followed along with the program since Dusty

May arrived, you probably have a pretty good feel for what Michigan wants to do from a

roster construction standpoint, to the style of play, to a mindset, to a game-by-game approach,

and a great barometer for how things have changed from last spring to this spring is the reaction around the return of Namari Burnett.

When Namari made his announcement last year, there was a positive feeling around having another returner alongside Will Cheddar and Jace Howard to help with the acclamation process.

But it was fair to wonder what Namari Burnett's role would be.

Heck, what it even could be. Namari played a bunch of minutes in his first go-around in the

maze in blue in 2023, 2024. But few players in America would have been able to take that role

on that team with that minutes load and turn it into an efficient season.

Then last season, Namari had a breakout year.

At one point, Dusty may encourage Michigan fans to update Wikipedia to connect Namari Burnett's

with efficiency.

And it did actually happen for a little while.

Burnett was a critical piece to a 27

win and a Big Ten tournament championship roster. Like last year, there was some doubt about

Namari Burnett's return to Michigan for 2526. Remember, when he made that decision last

year to come back, the tweet from Michigan men's basketball's account

said one more year. But there was no doubt this time around about what Namari would bring

to the program if he did indeed return for one more college basketball season. That

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