Top Illinois basketball signee secures top-30 spot in final class of 2024 ranking

Illinois basketball officially has a top-30 recruit for the class of 2024.

The transfer portal hasn’t officially settled just yet, as the Illini sit with three scholarships available for the 2024-25 campaign.

Illinois currently has two holdovers – Ty Rodgers and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn – from last season, and we are bringing in quite a few newcomers. From the transfer portal, Brad Underwood secured commitments from Jake Davis, Tre White, Kylan Boswell, Carey Booth, and Ben Humrichous. Illinois is also bringing in three new faces to the college game with the addition of Tomislav Ivisic, Jason Jakstys, and Morez Johnson Jr.

Johnson has been widely regarded as one of the best players in the country, leading his Thornton Township team with 17.2 points, 14.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.4 blocks, and 2.5 steals per game. His star has risen quite a bit in the last couple of seasons.

Back in September 2023, Johnson was ranked as the No. 51 player in the class of 2024. Since then, his ranking has risen. In the final 247Sports class of 2024 ranking, they have Johnson locked in as the No. 29 player in his recruiting class.

Morez Johnson Jr. is a caliber of player Illinois basketball hasn’t seen often

With the final recruiting ranking for 2024, 247Sports now has Johnson in the top 30 among this recruiting class. That is something rare for the Illini program.

Johnson, No. 29, is actually the highest-ranked recruit Illinois has landed since 247Sports’ rankings went into effect back in 2011.

Illinois has had quite a few players who have made the top-40 mark over the past decade or so. Ayo Dosunmu was the No. 30 player in the class of 2018. Adam Miller was the No. 35 player in the class of 2020. Skyy Clark was the No. 34 player in the class of 2022.

When it comes to the all-time composite rating for Illinois players, Johnson tops the list. He has a 247Sports composite rating of 0.9898, which is slightly ahead of Dosunmu’s rating of 0.9888.

Illinois is getting a special player in Johnson. He is someone who is going to change the game for the program from day one.