My Two Cents: NCAA Does the Right Thing Giving Indiana's Xavier Johnson Another Year

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Through all these years, I've learned that you can never count on the NCAA to make good decisions. But they made one on Wednesday.

College basketball's governing body granted Indiana point guard Xavier Johnson a medical waiver on Wednesday, allowing him a sixth year of eligibility. It's the best news of the offseason so far for the Hoosiers.

It's also the best news for Johnson, who broke his foot last December and needed what turned out to be season-ending surgery.

“We are very happy for Xavier and his family and can’t wait to have him be a key member of our program, next season,” IU coach Mike Woodson said in a release from the school. “I know this year was challenging for him, but he brought a positive attitude every day and I believe he will bring a great deal to our team next season because of the adversity he has faced.”

It was absolutely a challenge for Johnson, who desperately wanted to get back out on the floor with the Hoosiers, who went 23-12 last year, beat Purdue twice and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

It was a good season, but it could have been so much better had Johnson been able to play. Paired in the backcourt with freshman Jalen Hood-Schifino and teaming up with All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis, the Hoosiers jumped out to a 7-0 start, beating Xavier and North Carolina along the way.

They lost twice (Rutgers, Arizona) with Hood-Schifino out with a back injury, but he returned on Dec. 17 at Kansas. They played 6 minutes, 9 seconds together before Johnson broke his foot, and never returned.

It was early in his 11th game that he went down, just barely past what is supposed to be an NCAA threshold, but they did the right thing and didn't punish the athlete.

They gave him another year, and that's a good thing.

I'm back. ⚪️🔴 pic.twitter.com/xheuWGR7mG
— Xavier Johnson “X” (@XavierJ0hnson) April 26, 2023

Johnson played three years at Pittsburgh before transferring to Indiana, one of Mike Woodson's big transfer portal pickups in his first year. It took him a few weeks to get rolling, but he had Jackson-Davis clicked late and he was one of the best point guards in the Big Ten.

He and Hood-Schifino were great together for that little seven-game window. When Johnson went down, Hood-Schifino took over full-time at the point, barely coming off the floor. Trey Galloway got a lot more playing time, and Tamar Bates played 20 minutes a game, too.

They were OK, but they weren't Johnson, a true point guard who could break down defenses off the dribble and was — far and away — Indiana's best on-ball defender.

It was teams with quick guards that hurt Indiana all season, and every time it did, it was just so clear how much this team missed Johnson. His absence cost them three or four games easily. Maybe more, and maybe a few in March. It was Miami's quick guards that ended Indiana's season in the NCAA Tournament.

Johnson has loved his time at Indiana and he hated not being able to help out on the floor. He wished the bone in his foot would have healed quicker, but it didn't. There was nothing he could do about that, nothing anyone could about it, either. It wasn't healthy in March, but it is now. He'll be able to work out all summer, carefully of course.

So when it was clear that Johnson couldn't come back this season, he immediately went into ''what's next'' mode. He huddled with Indiana administrators and appealed to the NCAA. It was a 50/50 proposition at best, and we figured it wold take a month or more to get an answer.

I figured May 1 at the latest and here, on April 26, we have our answer.

Johnson is back.

And Indiana is way better for it.

Johnson and Trey Galloway are the likely starters in the backcourt next year, and that's a great pair of defensive guards there. They are both very good three-point shooters — Galloway shot 46.2 percent this year and Johnson has been a 38 percent shooter in two years at Indiana.

A lot is expected of C.J. Gunn in his sophomore year, and the two incoming freshman — guards Jakai Newton and Gabe Cupps — are coming to Bloomington with great reputations.

With Jackson-Davis heading off to the pros along with Hood-Schifino, Indiana's offense will look dramatically different next year. It will be more spread out, and it will be faster. There won't be constant reliance on throwing the ball into the post like there has been — although I never thought that was a bad thing. Trayce was the best player on the floor every night and he deserved as many touches as possible.

With Johnson back, you've got a veteran to run the show — at whatever pace you want — and a freshman in Cupps who now can ease into a point guard role. Galloway can spent more time at the two-guard spot, where he is far more comfortable than at the point.

There's still work to be done in the transfer portal, too, and with Johnson now locked up, that's going to help with recruiting, too. Woodson and his staff filled two big holes up front with Oregon transfer Kel'el Ware and Ball State big man Payton Sparks.

They've also got room for a few more players, and some quick wings make sense. This we know for sure, though,

Indiana just got a lot better on Wednesday.

And Xavier Johnson can smile again.

Related stories on Indiana basketball