It will almost certainly be too late to salvage Indiana’s NCAA Tournament hopes, but coach Mike Woodson confirmed on Monday night sixth-year guard Xavier Johnson is expected to return from injury before the 2023-24 season concludes.
“We’re hoping maybe in the next week or two he’ll back — we hope,” Woodson told Don Fischer on their radio show. “And if that’s so, that’ll give us an opportunity to have him at least in the last three or four games and get ready for the Big Ten Tournament.”
The 6-foot-3 Johnson has missed IU’s last four games with an elbow injury suffered during a fall to the floor late in a win over Iowa on Jan. 30. It was just the latest injury for the Virginia native. His 2022-23 season ended in December of that campaign when he suffered a broken foot at Kansas, and he suffered a stress fracture in his other foot in November of the current season.
After never suffering a serious injury, Johnson has missed 35 of Indiana’s 60 games over the last two seasons.
With a thin backcourt depth coming into this year, his absence has been impactful.
“We didn’t come into the season expecting Xavier not to be playing, because we went through that a year ago, he put the work in this summer,” Woodson said. “We got him back to where we thought he was. He was having good summer, and then he’s had all these injuries hit him again.”
Johnson has struggled to regain his form as he has bounced in and out of the lineup. He’s averaging career lows in points, assists, rebounds and steals, even on a per-40 minute basis.
And Johnson has exercised some bad judgment at times along the way, with multiple flagrant fouls this season, including an ejection.
For his part, Woodson is hoping Johnson can put it all behind him and have a strong finish.
“I feel for him. I’m trying to keep him in a good place and good space right now,” Woodson said. “This is his last go-around. He can’t come back next season.”
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