Morez Johnson, Schadenfreude, and the pervasive pall of America’s original sin

Merriam-Webster defines Schadenfreude as the enjoyment obtained from seeing or hearing about the troubles of others.

As sports fans, you probably experience it all the time.

If you root for the Bears, perhaps you experience it when the Packers lose.

If you root for the Cardinals, you may giggle when a Lincoln Park yuppie slips and faceplants in their own vomit on a Wrigleyville sidewalk.

And if you’re an Illini fan, Juwan Howard getting shitcanned in Ann Arbor likely warmed the cockles of your heart.

Speaking of Ann Arbor.

Native Chicagoan, former Illini commit, signee, and player Morez Johnson Jr. was drafted 9th overall in the 2026 NBA Draft.

A year after Johnson departed Champaign, he became the Dallas Mavericks’ first-round selection.

It was the next step in a journey that took Morez from St. Rita to Thornton to Champaign, Ann Arbor, and now the Metroplex. 

Now Morez’ NBA fate is tied to Dusty May and Cooper Flagg.

Not bad for someone still facing the unjust, vitriolic bile of some Illinois fans.

The palpable emotional incontinence in some Illinois fans’ hatred for Morez makes me ashamed to count myself among them in fandom.

No, I will not just stick to sports. Sports don’t exist in a bubble. They exist in the real world with all the joy and pain of the tangible universe. And the people who participate are just as susceptible to the slings and arrows of time as the average anti-Morez Illinois fan.

You do not own the athletes for whom you cheer.

I think there is a series of constitutional amendments that make it so. And being that ignorant this close to Juneteenth is irony rich enough to get naming rights to a college football stadium in Texas.

I know it’s hard for some of you to look at a young man like Morez and take leave of your faculties when he has the gall not to do what you want him to do. 

When Morez transferred from Illinois, some decided to unleash vile personal attacks on the young man and his family.

You wished him ill will. Not just on the court. 

It’s fair to wish his new program failure. They are a conference rival.

But some insults went beyond losing basketball games. 

In that world, his decision to go somewhere else was not a basketball decision. It wasn’t the choice of an ambitious young man trying to achieve his goals. It was a betrayal.

They wanted to call him a greedy, selfish…haberdasher. And perhaps you do privately.

They scoured the internet for comments about his family.

“See, he comes from a family full of haberdashers.”

It’s like there was some joy in satiating that lustful disdain.

Morez Johnson’s mentor left Illinois. Wouldn’t you feel abandoned if the same happened to you?

When Tim Anderson was placed on administrative leave just before the 2024-25 season tipped off, the balance of the program shifted. The arrival of star big man coach and Underwood ally, Orlando Antigua, marked a different direction. Anderson (and Chester Frazier) recruited players like Morez: tough, physical grinders with evolving skill and the willingness to do whatever it takes to win. Think about the players they brought in:

• Terrence Shannon Jr.
• Morez Johnson Jr.
• Sencire Harris
• Ty Rodgers
• Amani Hansberry 

Antigua brings a different approach to Illinois. He brought in international prospects like Tomislav Ivisic (and later his twin brother). That was the new direction of the program. 

The offense was to be built around spacing and shooting and less around having a sledgehammer in the dunker spot.

This is where we find the crux of the basketball insult used to couch more personal animus.

“He left one of the best big men coaches in the country. So that automatically means he had no interest in improving his game. It’s all because that greedy, lying haberdasher wanted to take more money so his family can put shinier rims on their cars.”

His other mentor, Tai Streets, is a University of Michigan alum. 

For a “kid who got bad advice from his father,” he sure did get some wise counsel from both of his mentors. He wound up having two productive seasons in the Big Ten, winning a national title, and landing himself in the lottery.

They wanted him to shut up, run, dunk, and rebound. They didn’t see him as capable of growing as a player. I’ll let you sort out what about him made them think he was a finished product at 17.

“But I saw clips of him shooting. It was obvious his shot was broken and his desire to go somewhere else is stupid. You hear that, boy? You do what I want you to do. Screw your dreams and ambitions, what about mine, dammit? The dang Illini need to win me a national championship.”

Okay, so you thought he was one-dimensional and wouldn’t be anything more at Michigan than he was at Illinois.

And to stop you from being willfully obtuse, let’s look at the numbers.

At Illinois, he took approximately 4 shots per game. That number doubled at Michigan.

With the increased volume, his two-point percentage actually increased from 64% to 66%.

So he took more shots inside the arc and shot a higher percentage.

He went from attempting zero threes at Illinois to taking 35 threes on the season at Michigan. Sure, that is low volume. And no, he did not turn into Koby Brea overnight. But the talk about him being an incompetent shooter was absolute rubbish. He shot 34% from behind the arc. For context, Tomislav Ivisic shot 31% from three-point range last season. (That’s not a knock on Tomi.)

Morez Johnson at least showed the threat of a jump shot. He demonstrated that he can make open shots from deep, so you have to respect him. And that’s an element he didn’t get to show as an Illini.

The advanced stats showcase the difference between a good role player on an excellent team and an emerging star on a championship team.

Playing with Aday Mara and Yaxel Lendeborg meant his rebounding numbers went down. His offensive rebound rate fell from 17% to a still excellent 13%. That is a fair critique of his value.

His true shooting percentage increased from 64% to 67%. And he didn’t need the best big man coach in the nation to do that. 

He more than doubled his win shares from just under 3 to just over 6. The analytics-driven Illini staff would have to be impressed with that number. To understand his true value, the great Keaton Wagler had 7.2 win shares in his lone collegiate season.

So from a basketball standpoint, Morez wasn’t the same player. He was not relied upon to be the primary rebounder. But his prowess still helped anchor a national champion on the glass. His quickness and switchability defensively made him a Swiss Army knife. 

No, Morez didn’t turn from a frontcourt player to a wing while at Michigan. But he demonstrated new skills and the team orientation it takes to succeed at the highest levels. He can play alongside smaller players due to his length and rebounding prowess. He can thrive next to larger players because of his evolving offensive skill.

Dusty May had all three of his former Michigan frontcourt players on the board at number nine. And he chose Morez Johnson. Do you think that pick just happened because someone thought the name Morez sounds cool?

And you were so eager to besmirch his character as a human and a basketball player.

“He was drafted too high. He only went in the top ten because his college coach is in Dallas now.”

Or, because he, you know, excelled as a player and at the combine.

If Morez really agreed to a deal to stay at Illinois and reneged, is that what makes him so detestable?

Because Brad Underwood had a valid contract at Oklahoma State when he agreed to come to Illinois. Is Brad also a dishonorable man? Or is he an ambitious man who saw an opportunity to enhance his life and took it?

Are you going to hurl the same level of invective at Quentin Coleman? He had a signed agreement to enroll at Wake Forest. Does that mean it’s morally okay to break your word if you’re coming to Illinois but not when you’re going from?

I’ll reiterate, I’m not saying anyone has to root for him. I am definitely not saying that anyone should have become Wolverines fans last season.

But if you think that you have dominion over a young man’s character because he didn’t follow your instructions…