CHAMPAIGN – It has become a reference story for Brad Underwood.

In the celebratory chaos of storming the court after Illinois beat Iowa to win the 2021-22 Big Ten regular season championship, the Illini men’s basketball coach looked around the State Farm Center. Over one shoulder was athletic director Josh Whitman. On the other was Morez Johnson Jr.

“That was three years ago,” Underwood said after joking that Johnson had to be a senior at the time given how long he had been in office. “He has been in our locker room a lot. He acts like a veteran because of that. That’s great. He’s seen a lot of practices.

“His desire to want to wear orange and blue is shown every day. There is no doubt that he is very proud to be an Illini basketball player and we are going to get a young man who plays very hard. He has that Chicago grit, that Chicago toughness and fight. “I’m glad he’s on our side.”

Underwood and Co. simply had to be patient to make Johnson’s regular trips from Chicago to Champaign permanent. The former St. Rita and Thornton standout committed to Illinois in November 2021, signed two years later and now figures to play a crucial role for a new Illini team when the season begins Monday night against Eastern Illinois.

Johnson was able to start this summer thanks to his familiarity with Underwood and the Illinois coaching staff. He had seen enough of what went on at the Ubben Basketball Complex to understand what the Illini coaches wanted.

The only difference was the players on the field. The ones he had known since committing are mostly gone, with Ty Rodgers and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn being the only scholarship players returning from last year’s Elite Eight team.

Johnson formed a quick bond with his new teammates and once the rebuilt roster was assembled, he learned how he could contribute as a freshman. While he did it all at Thornton last season (scoring 20 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, four blocks and three steals per game to earn NG All-State Player of the Year honors), that wasn’t going to be his role with the Ilini. Not at least this year.

So Johnson focused his attention primarily on defense and rebounding. Particularly this last one. He was a daily rebounding leader during summer workouts, and that will continue this fall as Illinois continues to prepare for the 2024-25 season.

Johnson’s rebounding prowess was on display Sunday in Oxford, Mississippi. The 6-foot-9, 255-pound freshman played just 13 minutes in Illinois’ 91-74 loss to No. 24 Mississippi, but scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting and tied Tomislav Ivisic, Tre White and Kasparas Jakucionis lead the team with six rebounds in noticeably fewer minutes.

“I can have an impact on the rebounds, on the glass,” Johnson said. “I think I have a knack for rebounding and I do my best to get up on the glass and rebound as best I can. You have to want to rebound to be a good rebounder. I think that also influences it. I may not be (I’m not) the best scorer on this team, so I have to do something that impacts the team’s victory. Rebounding and defending will help.”

How hard Johnson plays has been the word spoken about the standout big man at every stop. It’s what he showed St. Rita and Thornton. Same thing on the Nike EYBL circuit with Meanstreets. And when he helped Team USA win gold at the FIBA ​​U18 AmeriCup this summer.

“That’s the internal competitive fire inside of him,” Illinois associate head coach Orlando Antigua said. “I’ve been lucky enough to coach some guys who have had similar engines, and I put him alongside them. An Oscar Tshiebwe type guy who has a nose for the ball, chases after it and is relentless in his pursuit of getting the ball to you.”

Tshiebwe, of course, played two seasons at Kentucky after a season and a half at West Virginia. It is with the Wildcats, under Antigua, that the former Illinois recruiting target became a two-time First Team All-American and National Player of the Year for the 2021-22 season.

Antigua left Champaign the spring before Johnson committed, but he certainly knew the talented Chicago big man. Mainly because Johnson began his high school career at St. Rita, where Antigua’s own St. Raymond’s (NY) high school coach, Gary DeCesare, spent a decade on the sidelines.

“I just knew he was a strong, powerful athlete,” Antigua said of Johnson. “When you have the opportunity to peel the onion and get to know him, he can defend from one to five, he has an incredible motor and a great competitive spirit. “I think he will be able to show and grow his game tremendously as the months go by.”