Michigan's Morez Johnson Jr., Nimari Burnett know how to rep Chicago in title game: 'Be legends'

INDIANAPOLIS — Michigan players Morez Johnson Jr. and Nimari Burnett didn’t know each other in Chicago.

‘‘Nah, he’s too old,’’ Johnson said.

‘‘When I first met him, he told me he was 19 years old, and I was like, ‘This is a grown man in a 19-year-old body,’ ’’ Burnett, 24, recalled with a laugh.

Johnson, now 20, went to St. Rita for three years and finished at Thornton before heading to Illinois for what turned out to be only one season. Burnett won a Class 3A title as a freshman at Morgan Park, where he played with Ayo Dosunmu, before transferring to a prep school in California.

Both are starters on a 36-victory Wolverines powerhouse that will face UConn for the NCAA title Monday at Lucas Oil Stadium. And both are serious about repping their city.

‘‘You are a product of your environment and where you come from,’’ Burnett said. ‘‘I take that very personal. I know ‘Rez’ does, as well.’’

‘‘You can’t take away being from Chicago,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘I’m always telling people I’m from Chicago. I’m proud to be one of the young hoopers from there, and I hope I can be a legend or something like that — like [Derrick] Rose or Jabari Parker — one day.’’

Seated next to Johnson a day before the finale of the college season, Burnett looked at him and said, ‘‘You’ll be a legend tomorrow.’’

Johnson made major news last offseason when he left Illinois for Michigan. Regrets? He has none.

‘‘I always love my decision to come here to Michigan, and it made it a lot better making it this far,’’ he said.

Johnson credited Illinois, which also reached the Final Four, with having a ‘‘great year.’’ But Michigan is his spot, in part because coach Dusty May has opened the floor to him, allowing him more offensive freedom than he had in Champaign.

‘‘Coach May means everything to me,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘I got very close to him this past year. He changed the course of my career this year, so I’m forever grateful to him.’’