Indiana would not have made the 2022 NCAA Tournament without Xavier Johnson.
Full stop.
After the program’s positioning and plans at point guard appeared to be lost in the metaphorical wilderness for the better part of five years after Yogi Ferrell’s graduation in 2016, the Hoosiers found an unquestionable answer in Pittsburgh transfer Xavier Johnson, even if it took the better part of three months for him, and his critics, to reach that point.
Fiery, feisty and flashy, Johnson brought both an edge and production to the program that it so badly needed.
Below is a line graph of Johnson’s point total in each game this season, as well as his five-game, rolling average, both of which show a player who found his way in late January and then hit his stride in mid-to-late February.