If Xavier Johnson returns during the regular season, it won’t be until Indiana’s final home game on Sunday against Michigan.
On his radio show Monday night, head coach Mike Woodson said the fifth-year point guard won’t be available when IU faces Iowa on Tuesday in Bloomington.
“He’s been on the floor here recently (at practice),” Woodson told show host Don Fischer. “We’re still waiting to get the final approval from the doctors and training staff to make sure he’s ready to go.
“He won’t play tomorrow (Tuesday vs. Iowa) and then we’ll have a few days to continue to work with him and then we’ll gauge it on Sunday to see where he is.”
After starting the first 11 games for Indiana, Johnson hasn’t played since he broke his foot in December during a game against Kansas.
Woodson says if Johnson plays against the Wolverines, he expects him to have a diminished role.
“If he comes back Sunday he won’t be able to play long minutes,” Woodson said. “I’ll just have to gauge it to see how it’s going early in the game and make the adjustments from there.
“When you play this game, it’s about conditioning. X’s game is predicated on speed and getting into the guy handling the basketball, and we’ve missed that this season. Only time will tell where he is as a player for us.”
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