Xavier Elijah Johnson (born October 14, 1999) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player for the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the Nationa ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. He previously played for the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

Early life and high school career

Johnson grew up in

Spotsylvania County, Virginia Spotsylvania County is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the July 2021 estimate, the population was 143,676. Its county seat is Spotsylvania Courthouse. History At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of the area that bec ...

but moved to

Woodbridge, Virginia Woodbridge is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, located south of Washington, D.C.. Bounded by the Occoquan and Potomac rivers, Woodbridge had 44,668 residents at the 2020 census. Woodbridge o ...

to be closer to

Bishop O'Connell High School Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School (also known as DJO) is a Roman Catholic college preparatory school founded in 1957 in Arlington County, Virginia. It was established by the Diocese of Richmond, but it has been under the direction of the Dio ...

after he enrolled at the school. He entered high school at 5'6, but grew six inches by his senior year. He became Bishop O'Connell's starting point guard as a junior and was named second team All-

Washington Catholic Athletic Conference The Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) is a major high school athletic league for boys, girls, and co-ed Catholic high schools of the Archdiocese of Washington & Diocese of Arlington Schools located in the Washington Metropolitan Ar ...

(WCAC) after averaging 10.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists. Johnson was named the (WCAC) Player of the Year, as well a first team All-State and first team All-Metro by

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

, as a senior after averaging 18.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. Rated the 39th-best point guard prospect in his class by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

and a three-star recruit by

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount. The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite b ...

, Johnson originally committed to play college basketball at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

over Georgetown and

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. Johnson requested that Nebraska release him from his National Letter of Intent in the spring of his senior year after the departure of the assistant coach who recruited him. He ultimately committed to play at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

College career

Pittsburgh

As a freshman, Johnson led the Panthers with 15.5 points and 4.5 assists per game while also averaging 3.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game and was named to the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) All-Freshman team. He was the first Pitt freshman to lead the team is scoring since 1985 and was the only player in the ACC to average at least 15.0 points and 4.5 assists per game. Going into his sophomore season (2019–20), Johnson was named the 75th-best collegiate basketball player by

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

and the 51st-best prospect for the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

. Johnson scored 13 points in the Fort Myers TipOff against

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

, with four points coming in the last ten seconds to help secure a 63–59 win. He scored 20 points with six rebounds and six assists against

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

on January 18, 2020 to help close out the Panthers' first-ever season sweep of UNC. Johnson finished the season with 11.7 points, 4.9 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. As a junior, he averaged 14.2 points, 5.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game.

Indiana Hoosiers

For his fourth year, the 2021–22 season, Johnson put his name in the transfer portal and chose to play for the

over Baylor,

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, and Saint Joseph's, among others. Although Indiana already possessed two point guards, new Hoosiers coach

Mike Woodson Michael Dean Woodson (born March 24, 1958) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team. With coach Bob Knight's Indiana Hoosiers, Woodson played collegiatel ...

chose Johnson for the starting role. Initially, his "aggressive style of play and headstrong attitude on the court" held him back. In early February Johnson was one of five Indiana players suspended by coach

for violating curfew but was reinstated on February 10, after missing one game. But through the course of the season Johnson found his footing. After a poor performance mid-season in the

Crossroads Classic The Crossroads Classic was a four-team college basketball tournament held annually at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It featured Indiana's four most accomplished men's NCAA Division I basketball schools each year - b ...

, Johnson gave "an almost perfect shooting performance" against Maryland with 24 points on 100 percent shooting from the floor and 7-of-8 from the free throw line, missing his only shot with 19 seconds left in the game. Johnson credited his mid-season turnaround to his grandfather's death in early February, along with strong chemistry with fellow teammate

Trayce Jackson-Davis Trayce Jackson-Davis (born February 22, 2000) is an American college basketball player for the Indiana Hoosiers of the Big Ten Conference. He previously played for Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Indiana, he was ranked as one of the highest ...

. He ended the season averaging 12.1 points and 5.1 assist per game. His 172 assists that year were the 5th most in a season in Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball history. Although Johnson played four seasons, he retained one more year of eligibility, allowing him to play in the 2022–23 season. Prior to the season beginning he was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten by the media. Johnson averaged 10.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. He broke his foot in December 2022, forcing him to miss the rest of the season.

Personal life

On April 3, 2022, Johnson was arrested in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...

, for reckless driving and resisting arrest. He later remarked, "I thought my career was over, honestly. I got my second chance. I’m mad at myself for doing something like that, but I’m glad God gave me a second chance to come back and play, what I love to do." Head coach

, who said he took away Johnson's driving privileges, noted that Johnson grew a lot and took advantage of his second chance: "X has grown a lot, based on the things that he's done this summer. He's put himself in a wonderful position with me being the coach that I like everything about what X is doing now, because he is doing the right things on and off the court."

Career statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, 33 , , 33 , , 31.2 , , .415 , , .352 , , .751 , , 3.9 , , 4.5 , , 1.3 , , .1 , , 15.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 32 , , 33.2 , , .373 , , .330 , , .761 , , 3.7 , , 4.9 , , 1.8 , , .2 , , 11.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 18 , , 16 , , 28.6 , , .426 , , .321 , , .787 , , 3.4 , , 5.7 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 14.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021-22 , style="text-align:left;",

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, 34 , , 34 , , 27.7 , , .406 , , .383 , , .782 , , 3.8 , , 5.1 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 12.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 118 , , 115 , , 30.3 , , .403 , , .348 , , .767 , , 3.7 , , 5.0 , , 1.4 , , .2 , , 13.3

References

External links

Indiana Hoosiers bioPittsburgh Panthers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Xavier 1999 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Virginia Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players People from Spotsylvania County, Virginia Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball players Point guards