Morez Johnson Jr., Illinois transfer forward, considering 3 SEC schools

Morez Johnson Jr., a former 4-star recruit who spent his freshman season at Illinois in 2024-25, recently entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal.

Johnson appeared in 30 games this past year, making 8 starts. Now it appears he’s looking for a bigger role ahead of the 2025-26 season. Will that come outside of Champaign?

Per college hoops insider Jon Rothstein, Johnson’s high school coach says 3 SEC programs — Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas — are among the 6 schools on Johnson’s list:

Those 3 SEC basketball squads will compete with a pair of Big Ten programs — Ohio State and Michigan — as well as Kansas out of the Big 12 for Johnson’s services in 2025-26 and beyond.

Johnson — a 6-9, 225-pound forward — averaged 17.7 minutes per game this past year. He posted 7.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per contest. Illinois went 22-13 overall and finished 7th in the Big Ten standings. The Illini earned a 6-seed in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to Round 2 before losing to Kentucky.

All 3 of those SEC teams — Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas — will be looking to reload after players leave for the NBA and run out of college eligibility. We’ll see if Johnson ends up joining 1 of those SEC frontcourts for next season.

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.