Former Pitt point guard Xavier Johnson has decided on a new basketball home.
Johnson, one of three Pitt starters to enter the transfer portal this year, has committed to attend Indiana for the remainder of his basketball career.
Johnson just finished his junior season with the Panthers, but thanks to the NCAA’s blanket eligibility waiver for 2020-21, will have two years of eligibility remaining.
A 6-foot-3 point guard from Woodbridge, Virginia, Johnson was a three-star recruiting when he came to Pitt ahead of Jeff Capel’s inaugural season in 2018.
He quickly proved himself to be an important part of Pitt’s lineup, winning the starting point guard role as a true freshman and starting 81 games over three seasons in Oakland.
Johnson averaged 15.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4.0 turnovers per game as a freshman, while shooting 41.5% overall and 35.2% from 3-point range.
He struggled to improve upon those numbers the following two seasons. As a junior this past year, Johnson averaged 14.2 points per game, with 5.7 assists and 3.4 turnovers and shot 42.6% from the field and 32.1% from 3-point range.
Johnson was one of two players, along with fellow junior Au’Diese Toney, to leave the team before the end of the 2020-21 season. Since the end of the year, forwards Terrell Brown and Abdoul Karim Coulibaly and wing Gerald Drumgoole have also transferred. Toney will play at Arkansas, Brown at San Diego and Coulibaly at St. Bonaventure.
At Indiana, Johnson will join a team under new leadership, as former NBA head coach Mike Woodson will take over the Hoosiers next fall after the firing of Blackhawk alum Archie Miller last month.
