Michigan power forward Morez Johnson is coming home, again. A native of suburban Riverdale, IL Johnson attended St. Rita, on the south side of the city, before transferring and then graduating from Thornton high school- where his coach was former NFL wide receiver and high school basketball star Tai Streets.
After his high school career came to an end, he went to the University of Illinois as a blue-chip, highly rated recruit. He won the 2024 Illinois Mr. Basketball, Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year, and Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year awards, and committed to the Illini very early in the cycle.
Last season Morez set the Illini freshman record for season field goal percentage this campaign, finishing up at 64.7%. He then transferred to Michigan in the offseason, and his sophomore year saw him develop into the Wolverines leading rebounder (7.3 rpg) and second leading scorer (13.4 ppg). That says a lot, given how good this #1 seeded in the Midwest Regional Michigan team is.
Morez had 15 points and eight rebounds yesterday, helping lead Michigan to a 95-72 blowout of Saint Louis University in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The win tied the Wolverines’ 2018 Final Four team for the most single season wins in program history.
And they’ve now surpassed Duke and Arizona to become the overall favorite to win the entire tournament.
Up next is a regional semifinal, Friday night clash against the winner of the Alabama-Texas Tech game. It will be at the United Center in Chicago, Johnson’s hometown. He and his Michigan mates were just there, as they played in the Big Ten Tournament, in the very same building, ultimately losing to Purdue in the final game.
Heading into that game, Johnson discussed the excitement of “taking it to the championship game, being able to play here and win in front of my parents.”
He then added “So my parents, hopefully, I get to get the trophy in front of them, (which would be great) especially with all my friends and family here.”
Everything Johnson said there about the BTT final game applies to the upcoming weekend, but on a much grander scale. This time, with two more wins at the UC, Michigan can have a trophy ceremony as regional final winners, and cut down the nets, to celebrate a Final Four berth. That’s a whole lot more important tham a conference tournament title.
Johnson was arguably the Big Ten’s second best power forward, behind only Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn. That is of course, a very high bar to clear, as Kaufman-Renn was one of just five finalists for the Karl Malone Award, which is given to the nation’s top power forward.
TKR is also just the sixth player in Purdue history to surpass 1,500 career points, 700 rebounds and 225 assists.
Morez projects as a potential late first round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, but if he stays for his junior year, maybe he takes another leap forward (like he did this season), and plays his way into lottery discussion.
“I think I played very different from last year,” Johnson said about the growth he made from year one at Illinois to year two at Michigan. “especially on the defensive end, being able to guard one through five, showcase more, shooting the ball, more, pretty much over everything here.”
Johnson said that he didn’t reconnect with Streets, during the Big Ten Tournament, but the two men talk regularly, and Morez also played for Tai’s AAU team, Mean Streets.
Thornton Township high school has a very rich history of producing NFL and NBA players. With Morez Johnson admitting that this illustrious tradition has helped motivate him on his journey.
“Very good athletes coming from there definitely inspired me,” he said. “Especially being very close to Tai Streets and a bunch of his former athletes that play for Mean Streets, stuff like that.”
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, RG.org and Ratings.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.