Illinois basketball signee Morez Johnson Jr. adds another award to the case

Illinois basketball signee Morez Johnson Jr.’s high school basketball career is done, but him racking up awards is nowhere near finished.

Johnson just finished his senior year at Thornton Township High School where he averaged 17.2 points, 14.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.4 blocks, and 2.5 steals per game. The future Illini star helped the Wildcats to a 29-5 record overall and a trip to the Class 3A Elite 8, where they were barely clipped by Peoria Richwoods.

The legend of Johnson is one that will live on for a while in Illinois state history. He is a great big man, and his ability has earned him a lot of national recognition. A unanimous top-35 recruit in the class of 2024, Johnson picked up another big award on Thursday morning.

Gatorade released their 2023-24 Players of the Year by state. Johnson ended up taking home the award for the Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year. He is the first future Illini player to win the award since Adam Miller took home the honor in 2019-20.

Illinois basketball is about to hit the upgrade button in the paint with Morez Johnson Jr.

It has been a couple of seasons since Illinois had a great big man in the paint. Kofi Cockburn was the last true No. 5 to consistently start for the Illini, and he was a great watch.

Johnson should be even better than Kofi. I think the size that Kofi brought to the table was probably more overpowering, but Johnson has a lot more athletic ability, and he is way more agile than Kofi ever was or will be on the basketball court.

I also want to note, who knows how Johnson develops beyond the big man skills. A sneaky aspect of his game could be the ability to shoot from three-point range. Don’t look now, but this kid was fifth on his team in three-point attempts and was 17-of-50, 34%, from three-point range as a senior.

Illinois has a special talent in Johnson. He is going to be insanely good for the program and will start from day one. For now, let’s enjoy watching this kid rack up the accolades that are well-earned.