The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JANUARY 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 35 any bad intentions with me coming to their school. "When I got on the phone with them, the first thing they didn't talk about was money. Everybody else talked about money imme- diately. That was very important to me. "He's very hands- on. He's on the court with us, working us out in our individual workouts. A lot of head coaches aren't doing that. I appreciate him doing that with us." NO LIMITS FOR MICHIGAN The Wolverines' scorching start didn't take this sophomore by surprise. Many couldn't have imagined a begin- ning to the season like the Wolverines are enjoying, punctuated by the sheer dominance in Vegas. Johnson could, he stressed. "Can I imagine it? Yeah," he said. "Coach Dusty and [assistant coach] Akeem [Miskdeen] and I were talking about it a lot when all the other guys committed as well. We knew we had a chance. We had the right pieces and the right guys. We have high-level character guys here. "It's insane, but it's definitely fun, going out there and competing. We go out there and set the tone early. A lot of people give up, basically, in the first half. "They know they don't have a chance, because we're setting the tone, playing those first few minutes. As long as we win every four-minute game, we're go- ing to be fine." That's how fine the battle has been defined. Win each four-minute seg- ment. The rest takes care of itself. Johnson insisted this team can con- tinue to get better. "Our defense is really good right now, but I think we have another level," he asserted. "We can make a couple of little mistakes on the defensive end. Once we fix that, we're going to be very elite on that end." Beyo n d t h a t , Jo h n so n e m b ra ce s other factors his coaches stress. He loves the unselfishness all around him, and he's committed to remaining a ma- jor contributor. "We can't get too worried about the stat lines or the outside noise," he cau- tioned. "We can't get too high or too low. As long as we keep everybody being selfless and not being selfish, every- thing will fall in place for everybody. As long as we win, everybody will get everything they want. "We hang out with each other. We watch the games together. We went out to eat a lot this offseason. We're just with each other a lot — hanging out in the locker room after practice for a couple of hours, before practice, stuff like that." The transition to Ann Arbor hasn't been a tough one at all, Johnson said, thanks in part to coaches and team- mates. But there's another factor that he's experienced that's made him feel right at home. "The community," he said. "Everybody is super friendly. They say hello every time they see you, want to take pictures, stuff like that. I appreciate the fans being super sup- portive and welcoming." Crisler denizens certainly welcome what they've seen out of Michigan bas- ketball over the past year and a half. They wouldn't be at all opposed to wit- nessing their favorite team play on a Monday night in the spring, either. "National championship," Johnson said quietly. "That's our goal. That's why we're all here." ❏ The Physicality Stands Out Brian Boesch sees plenty of sophomore forward Morez Johnson Jr. and the rest of the Wolverines. His job as Michigan basketball radio play-by-play man puts him in close contact with Dusty May's crew, and contact is what he stresses when it comes to Johnson. Boesch recalled his summer podcast conversation with Johnson in which the new Wol- verine recalled a bad Michigan State memory. Johnson suffered a broken wrist after a hard fall following a blocked shot against the Spartans, causing him to miss the final five Illini games last season. "He said he had a very similar block when he was playing in eighth grade, and he also got hurt," Boesch recalled. "It shows you he's going to go out there and talk the talk and walk the walk." Boesch noted Michigan finds itself in season-mode now, honing in on the fine details of plays, whiteboard strategy, etc. He still gets a glimpse at plenty of Johnson's grittiness behind the scenes. "Everything Dusty May has said about wanting the rest of the team to match his intensity, his physicality, his mindset and his persona, it shows in those behind-the-scenes settings," Boesch said. "Morez has that junkyard dog, enforcer style, and it shows itself in those five- on-five or four-on-four settings, where you're able to get after it a little bit. Some of those drills are not going to be as aggressive with calling a foul. "Morez, he gets after it. And he gets after it in a way that [junior center] Aday [Mara] and [grad forward] Yax [Lendeborg] don't have that type of personality — and they shouldn't develop exactly that. Incorporating some of that into their game would be massive. "But it defines Morez. That physicality, that junkyard dog, that defines him, and it fits so well with this roster — whether that's in practice or in a critical juncture of a game." At the same time, the skills are clearly there, Boesch noted. "He measures himself as an NBA guy," Boesch said. "With his skills now, there's a role for him there. But obviously the upside comes with being able to shoot well. Terry [Mills, former Michigan national champion and color analyst on radio] has referenced it on our broadcasts. At this point, Terry's confident that any time Morez goes to the free throw line, he's going to make them. Terry is not going to just say that. "Terry is super impressed with his form. He's impressed with how calm he is at the line. We were talking to Dusty last week on the show about, okay, if there's a technical foul or something and you need to pick a free throw shooter, Terry said, 'I think Morez needs to be on that list.' I never would have guessed that, coming into the season." — John Borton ❱ Head coach Dusty May on Johnson "When you look at our good possessions in Vegas, a lot of times we got layups and dunks because of his seals, because of his screens, because of his rim runs. He just does a lot of visible and invisible plays."