Illinois forward Morez Johnson enters NCAA transfer portal

Illinois forward Morez Johnson has entered the NCAA transfer portal, per On3’s Jamie Shaw. He was a freshman with the Fighting Illini this past season.

Johnson appeared in 30 games as a freshman, including eight starts. During that time, he averaged 7.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game as Illinois made it to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. He will have three years of eligibility remaining.

Johnson put together his biggest game of the season in January against Penn State. He scored 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting while also adding 11 rebounds in 20 minutes of action. Illinois cruised to a 91-52 victory in that game.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

Morez Johnson played high school basketball at Harvey (Ill.) Thornton Township, where he was a four-star recruit. He was the No. 28 overall player and No. 1 player in the state of Illinois from the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

As a high school player at Thornton, Johnson was Illinois’ Mr. Basketball in 2024. He was also the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year and the Chicago Sun-Times’ state player of the year.

Illinois went 22-13 this past season, including 12-8 in Big Ten play, to make the NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed. The Fighting Illini took down Xavier in the first round before falling in the second round to Kentucky – the most-watched game of the opening weekend of March Madness.

Kasparas Jakucionis led the charge for Illinois this year, averaging 15 points and 4.7 assists per game to lead the team. He also cemented himself as a top NBA Draft prospect at the point guard position, coming in as the No. 6 overall player in On3’s James Fletcher III’s Top 75 prospects rankings ahead of the NCAA Tournament.

“Kasparas Jakucionis is one of the best stat sheet stuffers in college basketball this season, setting up the Illinois offense as a playmaker and rebounding well thanks to his size advantage at guard,” Fletcher wrote. “The only downside to this point in his game is that Jakucionis also fills the turnover category too often which must be cleaned up before facing bigger, more physical NBA defenders.”