Illini in the Pros (Basketball)

Fly Illini Fly! · Jun 27, 2026

Fly Illini Fly! said:
His per 40 stats were very good. Perhaps better than they were at Michigan (higher rebound rate at Illinois).

He just didn’t play as much.

Just like Morez’s stats were great in lesser minutes… to an extent, it’s the same deal with Andrej’s scoring numbers.

Stojakovic last season — 20.5pts per 40 minutes. Played 26.3 and averaged 13.5.

I think he gets to 32mpg next year. That would mean 16.4ppg. Also, I don’t think he shoots 24% from 3, and we’ll likely play at a slightly faster pace. Ultimately, he could easily wind up a 17ppg scorer (it’s always somebody).

It’s anything but uncommon to see guys who were great in lesser minutes/roles, have fabulous seasons simply from increased volume. Obviously he made improvements to his FT shooting and fouling, but at the end of the day, that’s what Morez was as well.

Fly Illini Fly! · Jun 27, 2026

lstewart53x3 said:
This has been reported directly by Werner.

The full story is:

Illinois made an NIL offer to Morez. Morez agreed to the offer and signed an ageeement.

Morez came back and asked for more money. Brad went to the boosters to get Morez more money. A second agreement was signed.

Morez then got a larger offer from Michigan and came back to Brad asking for an increase in compensation a third time. Brad decided not to match / exceed Michigan’s offer,

Ooof, well that sucks. Obviously very unfortunate from Illinois perspective.

NarrowJ · Jun 27, 2026

Fly Illini Fly! said:
It’s anything but uncommon to see guys who were great in lesser minutes/roles, have fabulous years with increased volume. Obviously he made improvements to his FT shooting and fouling, but at the end of the day, that’s what Morez was.

THANK YOU

This is what we’ve been saying: he improved a ton as a sophomore (and thus played more)

the juiceman cometh · Jun 27, 2026

WhereDoWeStandWithStorr? said:
He only fouled out in one game at illinois

Do you think that may have been because his minutes got managed when he got into foul trouble, which brought down his minutes per game? That's the entire point! When he started against Maryland and picked up 4 fouls in a total of 18 minutes, what was BU supposed to do? What about when he picked ip 4 fouls in 9 minutes vs Alabama? Fouling out is not the only, or even the primary, way that fouling impacts minutes played.

Emerson Bigguns · Jun 27, 2026

I still think the two main factors for Morez's exit are:

1. Money
2. Whatever happened with Tim Anderson

Playing time, role, and development just sound better to the press than they didn't pay my coach enough and they didn't pay me enough. I think this explanation also sheds some light on why he doesn't mind throwing shade (no matter how major/minor you perceive it to be) on the program.

iFlyBy · Jun 27, 2026

WhereDoWeStandWithStorr? said:
He only fouled out in one game at illinois

Tell me you don't watch basketball without telling me you don't watch basketball.

Because if you actually watched basketball instead of just looking at box scores, you'd know that coaches from all schools take players out of the game when they pick up their second foul in the first half. So if a guy picks up a quick two fouls, he's sitting for a long while. And then if he picks up a third early in the second half, guess what, back to the bench. He might finish the game with only those three fouls, but foul trouble absolutely limited his minutes.

But to box score and highlight watchers like you, you'd have no idea. So instead you just point to a "fouling out" stat as some sort of gotcha.

Deacon05 · Jun 27, 2026

I would 100 percent rather talk about cottage cheese than Morez "I left and talk !!!!" ffing Johnson. And I hate cottage cheese.

EmeraldCityIllini · Jun 27, 2026

I actually think Morez would have developed more and better as an offensive player here than Michigan (sue me) - Brad is simply the better offensive coach than May.

The fouling thing was very real though. Especially as we’ve learned how much Brad emphasizes not fouling - it’s not just about fouling out, he doesn’t want to rack up free throw attempts.

To be fair to Morez on “fit” though. Mara was a better defensive fit than Tomi. Less emphasis on rim protection for Morez helped the fouling issue

EllderIlliniFan · Jun 27, 2026

I would 100 percent rather talk about cottage cheese than Morez "I left and talk !!!!" ffing Johnson. And I hate cottage cheese.

His is no longer at Illinois. He is no longer in college. Who cares? Life goes on.

Goillinikobd · Jun 27, 2026

I would 100 percent rather talk about cottage cheese than Morez "I left and talk !!!!" ffing Johnson. And I hate cottage cheese.

Well, this Morez issue deserves its own thread, but you can get up to 500 pages without reaching a consensus.
I am an old fart and I enjoy Law and Order reruns, so let’s take a clue and have both sides give a little.
I suggest we settle the who screwed the pooch, Morez or Underwood discussion and assign the blame 50/50.
And then just move on. It’s history and I am more interested in our future

wc_illini · Jun 27, 2026

iFlyBy said:
Tell me you don't watch basketball without telling me you don't watch basketball.

Because if you actually watched basketball instead of just looking at box scores, you'd know that coaches from all schools take players out of the game when they pick up their second foul in the first half. So if a guy picks up a quick two fouls, he's sitting for a long while. And then if he picks up a third early in the second half, guess what, back to the bench. He might finish the game with only those three fouls, but foul trouble absolutely limited his minutes.

But to box score and highlight watchers like you, you'd have no idea. So instead you just point to a "fouling out" stat as some sort of gotcha.

This is a complete tangent (and I'm not disagreeing that what you're saying happened), but that decision making has always annoyed me. I understand foul trouble can change a player's effectiveness and that fouls generally lead to points (directly or starting the bonus sooner), but if a good player sits on the bench and ends the game with 3 fouls, you left lots of minutes on the table.

WhereDoWeStandWithStorr? · Jun 27, 2026

iFlyBy said:
Tell me you don't watch basketball without telling me you don't watch basketball.

Because if you actually watched basketball instead of just looking at box scores, you'd know that coaches from all schools take players out of the game when they pick up their second foul in the first half. So if a guy picks up a quick two fouls, he's sitting for a long while. And then if he picks up a third early in the second half, guess what, back to the bench. He might finish the game with only those three fouls, but foul trouble absolutely limited his minutes.

But to box score and highlight watchers like you, you'd have no idea. So instead you just point to a "fouling out" stat as some sort of gotcha.

Okay, well, let's take a look at 3 foul and 4 foul games then (wherever you'd like to draw the line).

Morez played 30 total games, and had 7 games with 4+ fouls. 30-7 = 23 other games where he could've played more minutes (but didn't).

He had 14 games with 3+ fouls. 30-14 = 16 other games where he could've played more minutes (but didn't).

___

The point is that he was our 7th man. He was seen as the 7th best player, and was therefore 7th in minutes (and wasn't even close to being 5th or 6th). If he was our starting power forward, but ended up low 20s in minutes due to foul trouble (as opposed to high 20s like Mirk), then I think it's a perfectly reasonable argument.

But, we were too busy giving Humrichous the starter minutes at the 4, hoping he'd break out of his slump, and Rez was riding the bench.

This season, we brought Ben back, but as a connective piece in a bench role. He was no longer priority over our talented freshman PF in Mirkovic, who started all the games from Day 1. Ben embraced his new role, improved his shooting, defense, rebounding, and we went on to have an awesome year.

It's just so obvious the contrast between the two situations.

NarrowJ · Jun 27, 2026

WhereDoWeStandWithStorr? said:
Okay, well, let's take a look at 3 foul and 4 foul games then (wherever you'd like to draw the line).

Morez played 30 total games, and had 7 games with 4+ fouls. 30-7 = 23 other games where he could've played more minutes (but didn't).

He had 14 games with 3+ fouls. 30-14 = 16 other games where he could've played more minutes (but didn't).

___

The point is that he was our 7th man. He was seen as the 7th best player, and was therefore 7th in minutes (and wasn't even close to being 5th or 6th). If he was our starting power forward, but ended up low 20s in minutes due to foul trouble (as opposed to high 20s like Mirk), then I think it's a perfectly reasonable argument.

But, we were too busy giving Humrichous the starter minutes at the 4, hoping he'd break out of his slump, and Rez was riding the bench.

This season, we brought Ben back, but as a connective piece in a bench role. He was no longer priority over our talented freshman PF in Mirkovic, who started all the games from Day 1. Ben embraced his new role, improved his shooting, defense, rebounding, and we went on to have an awesome year.

It's just so obvious the contrast between the two situations.

It’s not like he got a ton more minutes at Michigan… 18 vs 25

The not racking up 4 fouls in 9 minutes like he did for us helped him a ton in that regard. Also, being a lot better on the defensive end.

Our starting PF played 29.5 minutes per game so he likely would’ve played more here than he did at Michigan.

Fly Illini Fly! · Jun 27, 2026

NarrowJ said:
It’s not like he got a ton more minutes at Michigan… 18 vs 25

Ton more minutes. 7 more minutes per game is a lot.

Keaton last season played 34. Whole lot different than if he played 27?

Also, Michigan destroyed almost everybody they played, which means they had lots of garbage time rest.

.....

If Morez played 25mpg at Illinois, he would've averaged 9.9pts and 9.5rebs. That's basically a double double.

the juiceman cometh · Jun 27, 2026

Fly Illini Fly! said:
Ton more minutes. 7 more minutes per game is a lot.

But even that's misleading. By the end of his freshman season his minutes had increased quite a bit. From his first start on January 23 to the end of the season he averaged about 22 minutes. It was clear to everyone that if he came back he'd have played a much bigger role his sophomore season, because he was already playing a bigger role at the end of his freshman season.

NarrowJ · Jun 27, 2026

Fly Illini Fly! said:
Ton more minutes. 7 more minutes per game is a lot.

Keaton last season played 34. Whole lot different than if he played 27?

Also, Michigan destroyed almost everybody they played, so they had the benefit for alot more garbage time rest.

7 is barely 1/6 of a basketball game, not a lot

Bigs don’t typically play as many minutes as guards so Keaton is an Apple/Orange comp

Last season Michigan played 26 games with > 10 point margin. Illinois? 22

Fly Illini Fly! · Jun 27, 2026

the juiceman cometh said:
But even that's misleading. By the end of his freshman season his minutes had increased quite a bit. From his first start on January 23 to the end of the season he averaged about 22 minutes. It was clear to everyone that if he came back he'd have played a much bigger role his sophomore season, because he was already playing a bigger role at the end of his freshman season.

Agreed, and I've said this all along. His minutes in the 6-7 game stretch before breaking his wrist was very encouraging.

It's prior to that, earlier in the season, where his PT was a lot lower.

RollChief · Jun 27, 2026

orangem said:
Morez at pick #9 was the highest drafted non-freshman in the country. Sure he made more free throws this year that allowed him to stay at the end of games, but seriously ... the #9 pick wasn't even just one of the better players in the conference?

I mean you took out my point but yeah the year before if you saw him against the better players in the conference as a freshman then he didn’t look like one of the better players in the conference… he made progress from Y1 to Y2, I doubt he would have even been drafted last year and wasn’t in the conversation for any all B1G honors so no I don’t think he was one of the better players in the conference as a freshman

Cravingschampaign · Jun 27, 2026

3 point girl · Jun 27, 2026

Did it bother anyone else to hear Morez & Coach Mays refer to him as an "everyday guy".

skyIdub · Jun 27, 2026

Two more pages of this??? Ffsjfcygtbsmomgstfugtfo

jamarvelous31 · Jun 27, 2026

Fly Illini Fly! said:
Ton more minutes. 7 more minutes per game is a lot.

Keaton last season played 34. Whole lot different than if he played 27?

Also, Michigan destroyed almost everybody they played, which means they had lots of garbage time rest.

.....

If Morez played 25mpg at Illinois, he would've averaged 9.9pts and 9.5rebs. That's basically a double double.

My dude. How many times do folks have to point out he averaged a foul out per 40 minutes?

He left for money & because he didn't feel loyalty to the staff with Tim leaving.

Everything else is retconning because it's obviously embarrassing to him to leave a team he was committed to for 4+ years.

Route47 · Jun 27, 2026

I think Morez just made a soph leap.

lstewart53x3 · Jun 27, 2026

jamarvelous31 said:
My dude. How many times do folks have to point out he averaged a foul out per 40 minutes?

He left for money & because he didn't feel loyalty to the staff with Tim leaving.

Everything else is retconning because it's obviously embarrassing to him to leave a team he was committed to for 4+ years.

Him not getting enough minutes his freshman year being the reason he left is a silly argument anyhow. His freshman year minutes didn’t have an impact on his sophomore year minutes, which he clearly knew, since he signed two agreements to return.

Coleman Hawkins played 6 minutes per game his freshman year. Then 19 his sophomore year. Then 30 minutes per game every year after.

It’s pretty common for minutes, usage, and role to increase as a player ages.

OB positive · Jun 27, 2026

WhereDoWeStandWithStorr? said:
He only fouled out in one game at illinois

Ya because he got sat down when he got in foul trouble and then later in the games where you would normally put him back in he was a liability because of his freethrow shooting. Thats why Ben was often in the games at the end plus being a better ball handler. There is no doubt Morez had a fouling issue and it cost him a lot of playing time

Illini in the Pros (Basketball)

"I can't tell you. Secret."