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Biggest takeaway from Dusty May’s first year with Michigan basketball
Tony and Andrew talk the unexpectedly successful first year of the Dusty May era for U-M hoops and how the coach is already gearing up for next year
- Morez Johnson Jr., a transfer from Illinois, has been dedicated to improving his game at Michigan’s basketball facilities.
- Johnson’s size, athleticism, and toughness are expected to strengthen Michigan’s frontcourt, particularly in rebounding.
- While Johnson primarily scored at the rim last season, Michigan coaches see potential for him to expand his offensive game.
More often than not these days, Morez Johnson Jr. is in the Michigan basketball gymnasium.
The player development center adjacent to Crisler Center has seemingly become a second home for the transfer big man from Illinois since he arrived in Ann Arbor more than a month ago. Coaches told the Free Press he’s been there − almost literally − every single day since the onset of his time as a member of the Wolverines.
While another big man has garnered much of the headlines − Yaxel Lendeborg, the No. 1 transfer portal player in the nation who in the last week of May decided to pull his name out of the NBA draft and come back for one last year of college ball − U-M seemingly has another budding star in the frontcourt.
“I think he brings some size, toughness and athleticism to our front court,” Michigan assistant coach and general manager Kyle Church told the Free Press in a recent conversation. “I think our front court had a ton of great pieces last year, but maybe some of that athleticism and that physicality might have been one thing we probably lacked. I think he addresses that immediately.
“He’s a fantastic, fantastic young man, really smart. He’s been awesome to be around, but the size, physicality, toughness, is what I think is going to stand out on the court.”
‘Earned the right’
Michigan coach Dusty May agreed with much of that assessment, but tweaked the verbiage a bit.
He said that his front court was athletic a season ago − after all, Danny Wolf was a 7-footer who could put the ball on the deck and make nearly any pass on the court, while Vladislav Goldin’s ability to finish in the lane and catch nearly any entry pass from any angle is athleticism in itself − but acknowledged, as with every player, there were holes.
“We did struggle on the defensive glass,” May admitted when he spoke with the Freep on June 3. “You know, for us to be a championship level, we didn’t rebound the way we needed to. We just thought Morez was really impactful; his offensive rebounding numbers, his ability to run the floor, he just has a baseline that is very, very high and he works incredibly hard.”
Johnson, who stands 6-foot-9 and 255 pounds, was a highly rated four-star coming out of Harvey, Illinois (Thorton Township High School) in the 2024 class. Not only was he rated the top player in the state, he was seen as the No. 7 center in the nation and the No. 30 player in the grade regardless of position, per 247Sports composite ranks.
He made an impact in his lone year in at Illinois, a program he’d been committed to since Nov. 2021. Johnson played 30 games, with eight starts, and though he played fewer than half the minutes (17.7) he still averaged seven points and 6.7 rebounds per game to go with better than a block a night.
Johnson battled a hand injury late in the season and missed nearly a month from Feb. 15-March 13 − which included Illinois’ lopsided 93-73 win over Michigan in Ann Arbor. After looking at the film, Michigan’s coaches thought Johnson was “starting to come into his own,” right before the injury, but when he returned for the Big Ten tournament, he never scored more than six points again.
Of course, he’d scored in double figures in three of five games prior, which included a 17-point outburst in a home loss to Michigan State, not to mention his 20-point, 11-rebound game against Penn State (one of three double-doubles on the year).
It’s also important to note he did almost all of this scoring with pure force. According to Synergy, 98% of his offense came at the rim (excluding free throws, but even those were generated by fouls underneath the bucket). If there’s another element beyond the rebounding help that excites Michigan, it’s the untapped offensive potential.
“I think he could definitely expand this game,” May said. “You earn the right to expand your game by the work you put in in the offseason and through the developmental process. He’s as diligent as anyone that I’ve seen, as far as the early impressions of him just being in the gym, in the weight room and just being maniacal about his process.”
‘A whole other dimension’
As May pointed out, there’s often a notable jump between a player’s freshman and sophomore year. After a full season in the Big Ten, then an offseason to grow, the game tends to slow down as players know what to expect.
With that, players can start adding layers to their game. Still, it’s a balance of making sure Johnson still “lives in his strengths” because that’s what got him to this point in the first place, while aggressively working to grow.
“We think he just gives us a whole other dimension,” May said. “And the more flexible and versatile you can be, the harder you are to defend and score against.”
The last piece of the puzzle is that Johnson doesn’t have to be locked into one position. He can play the five, with someone like Lendeborg or Will Tschetter at the four, or he can play the four with someone like Aday Mara (UCLA) in at the true center position.
Either way, Johnson, who averaged an offensive rebound nearly every six minutes on the court, figures to impact the game in a major way. If his work has been any indication, he’s ready for a notable leap in 2025-26.
“He’s been here … since school got out, and he’s been working on (his game) every single morning,” Church said. “He’s in the weight room. Every morning he’s getting up shots. He’s maniacal about becoming a better basketball player, and with a work ethic like that, I see him really expanding his game from his freshman year.”
Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
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