Morez Johnson Jr. spent last season with coach Dusty May and the Michigan Wolverines. The second-year power forward helped the program emerge as the national champions, after which he declared for the 2026 NBA draft while maintaining his eligibility.
On Monday, during an appearance on Kevin O’Connor’s podcast, Dusty May was asked to describe Morez Johnson Jr.’s performance on the defensive side of the ball. The Michigan coach had nothing but praise for the power forward.
“There were times this year when I told him he was a great defender for us, switching one through five,” May said. “He guarded point guards, he guarded centers. But early in the year, he was so effective on guards when they’d play one-on-one. He would use his length and poke the ball away from them and get steals and dunks.
“And late in the year, when he was playing the elite guards. He would try that, and it would be a foul or a sld. And so, he even made adjustments then and kind of recognized who he was guarding and just be more solid and forcing a difficult shot. And just realizing that if they’re gonna have to hit shots like that over 85 possessions, we’re gonna be in good shape.
“But his ability to guard one-on-one, with his size and strength on the perimeter, was probably the most pleasant surprise and allowed us to switch one through five when a guy was out of the game. … He just had good awareness of what was going on around him and synergy with his teammates.”
Morez Johnson Jr. spent his freshman year with Illinois before transferring to join Dusty May’s Michigan last year. In 40 games, he averaged 13.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 blocks per game.
Dusty May gets honest about acquiring J.P. Estrella via the transfer portal
In April, former Tennessee power forward J.P. Estrella transferred to join the Michigan Wolverines for the upcoming season.
Last week, during an interview with analyst Andy Katz, Dusty May opened up about the reasoning behind this decision.
“We loved his motor and physicality,” May said. “Went back and looked at a lot of his high school films. … He was very adept as a triple handoff guy. So we think he has some things that we’d in our offense and really value it.
“And also we think he checks the Will Tschetter boxes as far as being a connector energy guy.”
In three seasons with the Vols, Estrella averaged 6.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg and 0.5 apg.
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