Recruiting Report: Ontario Burnett (2017)
Kalamazoo Central’s 6-foot-5 shooting guard Ontario Burnett is a dual-sport star who could have plenty of collegiate options nine months from now. He’s seeing some form of Division I interest for both football and basketball — along with some…
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Continue ReadingKalamazoo Central’s 6-foot-5 shooting guard Ontario Burnett is a dual-sport star who could have plenty of collegiate options nine months from now.
He’s seeing some form of Division I interest for both football and basketball — along with some D2 and NAIA interest — and says though he may have higher level interest for football, basketball is his favorite sport.
“I’ve been contacted by Evansville, Davenport, Central Michigan, and Rochester College. I’ve gotten mail from Western Illinois, Southern Illinois, and Kent State,” said Burnett,
“Who’s really been on the phone with me consistently are Evansville in the Missouri Valley, and probably Davenport — they’ve been on me really hard. And they (Davenport) just made the jump to D2, so that really opened my eyes.”
Burnett added: “I have bigger schools recruiting me for football (Western Michigan, Michigan State), but I really want to play basketball, and I know I can play either one. I’m just enjoying the process right now and evaluating everybody.”
Burnett has grown steadily over the past several years, and that added height has helped him become one of the state’s most versatile threats.
“My strength is really my versatility, especially since I’ve grown. I was a freshman earlier in my career and was about 6-foot, and now I’m like 6’5, 6’6 and I’ve carried my guard skills over, and I’m really more of a wing now, and I can even move to the four and play stretch-four,” said Burnett.
“I really do focus on being versatile, because that’s really the way the game is these days. And just being tall and athletic and able to dribble and shoot, that’s what I really focus on.”
Though football season is his priority at the moment, Burnett mentioned that he’s looking forward to being one of his team’s leaders on the hardwood this winter.
“I’m really look forward to being the leader of the team, and if we need a bucket they can go to me, or my best friend Isaiah (Livers),” said Burnett. “And I just look to be a leader and just lead us to victory, no matter if I score 30 points or 5 points.”