Illinois Basketball: Morez Johnson Jr. takes top spot in latest recruiting rankings

Illinois basketball has a special player on their hands with incoming big man, Morez Johnson Jr.

While the class of 2023 isn’t officially buttoned up, the Illini have already started working on building a legendary 2024 class. Johnson was the first domino in what could be one of the greatest classes of all time.

It all started with Illinois getting into Johnson’s recruitment in June 2021. Less than six months later, Johnson had pledged to the program. He has been committed to the Illini since November 2021.

Not only has Johnson stayed true to his commitment to Illinois, but he has done something that not many top recruits can do. He has stayed at the top of the recruiting game and hasn’t wavered much.

Recruiting sites look at Illinois basketball commit Morez Johnson Jr. as a top recruit in 2024

On Wednesday, Prep Hoops Illinois released its in-state updated player rankings for the class of 2024. They have 150 players ranked, and while I don’t have a subscription to their paid service, I don’t need one. The player I am looking for is Johnson, and they have the future Illini big man as the No. 1 player in Illinois.

Johnson is right around the top spot on 247Sports as well. He is the No. 2 player in the state of Illinois, but 247Sports hasn’t updated their profiles in a while. They still have James Brown, the No. 1 player, in the state of Illinois. He transferred out of St. Rita, as did nearly everyone else, and landed in Missouri to finish his high school career.

Overall, I have been extremely impressed with Johnson’s ability to stay one of the nation’s top players. There are a lot of cases where a player gets their initial ranking but then drops as years go on for one reason or another. That hasn’t been the case with Johnson.

247Sports has had Johnson between No. 40 and No. 61 for his entire high school career. He has been ping-ponging back and forth between those two numbers. Their composite ranking is about the same, as he has been between No. 40 and No. 50 nationally.

I might be a little biased here, but I actually think these rankings are too low. I think Johnson is going to be able to physically dominate in the Big Ten in year one. I think we have an all-timer with Johnson. I wish he could reclassify and join the program this season. That is how special I think he will be for this program.