Mike Woodson Hopes 'The Old X' Returns To Form Before It's Too Late

Xavier Johnson has dealt with various injuries for over a year, which have been roadblocks to personal and team success. When healthy, he has struggled to get back to the best version of himself, something coach Mike Woodson banked on this year. Johnson is making one final push before his time runs out.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana coach Mike Woodson has used the term “soul searching” multiple times this week to describe his team.

Losers of three of their last four, the Hoosiers’ season is at a tipping point. Indiana has zero Quad 1 wins – 29 teams nationwide have at least three, and Purdue and UConn have seven – entering Saturday’s 3 p.m. ET tipoff at Illinois, which will be a chance to pick one up.

They’ll have had a seven-day layoff to figure things out before the game, the first of 12 remaining Big Ten contests. Malik Reneau’s comments about the team feeling “disconnected” on the court during the Wisconsin game means turning it around is a full-team effort, but perhaps no one is soul searching more than senior point guard Xavier Johnson, whose injuries have hurt Indiana the last two seasons.

“He's had a few good days of practice, and I'm just going to keep encouraging him and hopefully we'll get the old X back,” Woodson said. “Because we're going to need him as we continue this journey throughout the Big Ten."

Johnson’s run of injuries started last season, on Dec. 17, 2022, at Kansas, where he broke his foot and ultimately missed all but 11 games. The NCAA granted Johnson a medical hardship waiver and sixth year of eligibility. 

Indiana Hoosiers guard Xavier Johnson (0) injured during the first half against the Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Heading into this season, Indiana’s roster construction meant it needed Johnson to run the offense and be the first defensive point of attack, like he did his first year with the Hoosiers.

Woodson often mentions the 2022 Big Ten Tournament when speaking about Johnson, who had arguably the most meaningful run of his college career that week. Johnson averaged 16.7 points and 7.3 assists in a three-game stretch that pushed the Hoosiers just barely into the NCAA Tournament. Add the final five regular season games to that run, and Johnson gave the Hoosiers 18.1 points and 8.3 assists per game in the most critical juncture of the season.

That’s what Woodson envisioned Johnson could be for the Hoosiers this year, or at least close to it. Johnson set the bar high for himself, too.

“I believe I am the best point guard in this league,” Johnson said Oct. 10 at Big Ten media days. “And I will prove it.”

But just six games into his second last chance, per se, Johnson suffered yet another foot injury, sidelining him for another seven games. Since returning, Johnson, one of Indiana’s team captains, has been a shell of his former self. In five of those six games, Johnson averaged just two points while shooting 3-for-18 from the field with 13 turnovers, and he was ejected after a Flagrant 2 foul at Rutgers.

He scored 18 points with three assists and zero turnovers in Indiana’s best win of the season, 71-65 over Ohio State on Jan. 6, showing that ‘the old X,’ as Woodson said, is still in there somewhere.

But that strong performance has been overshadowed by five other duds, causing Johnson to lose his starting job to freshman Gabe Cupps, though Woodson said after the Wisconsin loss he’ll have a chance to earn it back. The Hoosiers have a 2-4 record since Johnson’s return, and their NCAA Tournament chances are shrinking. It’s a team with six new scholarship players that still looks like it’s learning to play together deep into January, and Johnson’s in-and-out injury status has only added to the challenge.

“I'm frustrated, not in a bad way, meaning for him, because this is his last go around,” Woodson said. “He doesn't get an opportunity to come back to college and play basketball again. What he's gone through really the last year and a half has been tough.”

Indiana's Xavier Johnson (0) reacts to getting called for a foul during the second half of the Indiana versus Purdue men's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024 :: Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

As Indiana approaches the midway point of Big Ten play, Woodson knows Indiana needs Johnson to return to top form. Not only because his combination of speed and power is something the rest of the team lacks offensively, but because his defense will be needed to pick up wins Indiana desperately needs.

Outside of Purdue’s Zach Edey, the Big Ten’s next six leading scorers are all guards: Maryland’s Jahmir Young, Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr., Michigan State’s Tyson Walker, Penn State’s Kanye Clary, Northwestern’s Boo Buie and Michigan’s Dug McDaniel. Indiana still has to play five of them, along with other All-Big Ten candidates at guard like Iowa’s Tony Perkins, Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton, Purdue’s Braden Smith, Nebraska’s Keisei Tominaga and Wisconsin’s AJ Storr.

Young scored 22 points and hit clutch shots in Maryland’s road win at Iowa Wednesday, and Buie scored 29 as Northwestern upset No. 10 Illinois the same night. Indiana hasn’t gotten that production from any of its guards consistently this year, and those upcoming defensive assignments can’t all be shouldered by Trey Galloway and Cupps.

"We've got to get [Johnson] back,” Woodson said. “You go around the Big Ten and you look at all the teams, the perimeter play, the point guards are really playing extremely well.”

Woodson can empathize with Johnson’s effort to come back from injury because he’s been in a similar position. During the 1979-80 season, Woodson’s senior year at Indiana, he suffered a back injury that put his college career in jeopardy. He made a miraculous recovery and ended up being named 1980 Big Ten Player of the Year as the Hoosiers won the Big Ten title.

Woodson’s time after the injury had a happy ending, but it didn’t come without hardship. Now he’s using that experience to help his struggling point guard.

“It's deflating, man. Mentally, it crushes you,” Woodson said. “All I can think back to, what I went through to get back. I was crushed because how in the hell can something like this happen your last year and you don't know if you're ever going to play again based on what the doctors are telling you.”

“I feel his frustration, man, but we still got a lot of Big Ten games left,” Woodson said. “There's a lot of room for him to get back on track, and that's what I'm trying to push him in the right direction to get there.”

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