Morez Johnson Jr. proving to be a force for the Illinois basketball program

I have seen a lot of talented centers for the Illinois basketball team in the past 30 years, and Morez Johnson Jr. is one of the most talented to walk through the State Farm Center doors.

The Illini class of 2025 was pretty special. With five newcomers from the high school ranks, Illinois had plenty of options to fill out the roster.

Johnson was a part of this class, as he was the second-highest-rated recruit Illinois landed, according to 247Sports. Johnson finished his time with Thornton Township High School as a four-star recruit who was ranked as the No. 31 player in the country. He also won the Illinois Mr. Basketball award.

While at Thornton Township and in the AAU circuit, Johnson showed off his talent. He was a monster in the paint, sucking up rebounds and being a force on both ends of the court.

I always thought Johnson was robbed of a spot on the McDonald’s All-American roster too. He had the talent and national ranking to be in the game, but he ended up being left off the rosters.

Illinois brought in a ton of talent both with freshmen and transfer portal newcomers, so there are a lot of players and only so many minutes to go around. Johnson hasn’t been in the starting lineup yet, but he has started to clearly gain the trust of the coaching staff on the court as of late.

A lot of this trust has to do with foul trouble. Coming into a game and fouling frequently will get you riding the pine quickly. Johnson has had some foul troubles early on, but that is just an adjustment he has to make from the high school game to the college game.

Johnson’s impact in the minutes he is seeing has been huge, though. Just look at what he did in the Alabama game. Johnson logged nine minutes and had four points, four rebounds, and two blocks.

The minutes seem to be getting better for Johnson too. In two close games earlier this season, Johnson only played eight minutes against Oakland and nine minutes against the Crimson Tide. I think the game against the Razorbacks was a big positive step for Johnson.

Johnson got to see early playing time against Arkansas. He was put in the game in the first 10 minutes, and he logged 14 minutes of action throughout the night. Johnson finished that huge win with six points, four rebounds, and two steals.

Morez Johnson Jr.’s per 40 minutes numbers have been insane for the Illinois basketball team

Every time Johnson takes the floor, his impact is felt immediately. He stuffs the stat sheet with big numbers in little time. A good way to measure how impactful a player can be when they are on the court is the per 40 minutes average.

Per 40 minutes average is if the player played an entire 40-minute game, these are what his numbers would be.

When you lay out Johnson’s numbers if he played all 40 minutes in a game, he would average 16.3 points, 21.9 rebounds, and 4.7 blocks per game. Those are incredible numbers and a big reason why he should be playing more each night.

Johnson is starting to get more minutes, and I expect his time on the floor to increase in the coming weeks. This kid is a great player who can really help Illinois with grit on the court. Let Johnson eat.