After winning a national championship in his first season at Michigan, big man Morez Johnson Jr. is officially headed to the pros and is declaring for the 2026 NBA Draft. He also, however, is retaining his collegiate eligibility for a possible return to Michigan.
After transferring over from Illinois last offseason, Johnson played in all 40 games this season and averaged 13.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 62.3 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from three. He also put together one heck of a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double in the National Championship vs UConn.
Johnson is projected to go in the later portion of the first-round. He does have the ability to come back to college for another year, so we’ll see if May and the Wolverines are able to put an NIL deal on the table that would at least be comparable to what he is projected to earn in the NBA as a first-year player.
Johnson is the first Wolverine to declare for the 2026 NBA Draft: fellow big man Aday Mara still has a decision to announce, but it’s likely he will also declare for the draft.
We wish Johnson nothing but the best at the NBA level if he decides to stay in the draft.
