Xavier Elijah Johnson (born October 14, 1999) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who last played for the Rip City Remix of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facul ...

and for the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

Early life and high school career

Johnson grew up in

Spotsylvania County, Virginia Spotsylvania County is a county (United States), county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is a suburb approximately 60 miles (90km) south of D.C. It is a part of the Northern Virginia region and the D.C. area. As of 2024, Spotsylvania County ...

but moved to

Woodbridge, Virginia Woodbridge is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, located south of Washington, D.C. Bounded by the Occoquan River, Occoquan and Potomac River, Potomac rivers, Woodbridge had 44,668 residents at the ...

to be closer to

Bishop O'Connell High School Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School (also known as DJO) is a Private school, private, Catholic Church, Catholic college preparatory school founded in 1957 in Arlington County, Virginia. It was established by the Diocese of Richmond, but it ha ...

after he enrolled at the school. He entered high school at 5'6, but grew six inches by his senior year. He became Bishop O'Connell's starting point guard as a junior and was named second team All-

Washington Catholic Athletic Conference The Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) is a major high school athletic league for boys, girls, and co-ed Catholic high schools of the Archdiocese of Washington & Diocese of Arlington located in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Th ...

(WCAC) after averaging 10.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game. Johnson was named the (WCAC) Player of the Year, as well as a first-team All-State and first-team All-Metro by

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

, as a senior after averaging 18.4 points, four rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game. Rated the 39th-best point guard prospect in his class by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

and a three-star recruit by

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a large ...

, Johnson originally committed to playing college basketball for

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

over Georgetown and

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

. Johnson requested that Nebraska release him from his National Letter of Intent in the spring of his senior year after the departure of the assistant coach who recruited him. He ultimately committed to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

College career

Pittsburgh

As a freshman, Johnson led the Panthers with 15.5 points and 4.5 assists per game while also averaging 3.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game and was named to the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC) All-Freshman team. He was the first Pitt freshman to lead the team is scoring since 1985 and was the only player in the ACC to average at least 15 points and 4.5 assists per game. Going into his sophomore season (2019–20), Johnson was named the 75th-best collegiate basketball player by

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

and the 51st-best prospect for the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecticut, wi ...

. Johnson scored 13 points in the Fort Myers TipOff against

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

, with four points coming in the last ten seconds to help secure a 63–59 win. He scored 20 points with six rebounds and six assists against

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

on January 18, 2020 to help close out the Panthers' first-ever season sweep of UNC. Johnson finished the season with 11.7 points, 4.9 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. As a junior, he averaged 14.2 points, 5.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game.

Indiana

Johnson put his name in the transfer portal for his fourth year, the 2021–22 season. He chose to play for

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

over Baylor,

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, and Saint Joseph's, among others. Although Indiana already possessed two point guards, new Hoosiers coach

Mike Woodson Michael Dean Woodson (born March 24, 1958) is an American professional basketball coach and former professional basketball player who is the associate head coach of the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). With coach ...

chose Johnson for the starting role. Initially, his "aggressive style of play and headstrong attitude on the court" held him back. In early February Johnson was one of five Indiana players suspended by coach

for violating curfew but was reinstated on February 10, after missing one game. But through the course of the season Johnson found his footing. After a poor performance mid-season in the Crossroads Classic, Johnson gave "an almost perfect shooting performance" against Maryland with 24 points on 100 percent shooting from the floor and 7-of-8 from the free throw line, missing his only shot with 19 seconds left in the game. Johnson credited his mid-season turnaround to his grandfather's death in early February, along with strong chemistry with fellow teammate

Trayce Jackson-Davis Trayce Jackson-Davis (né Davis; born February 22, 2000), more commonly referred to by his initials "TJD", is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college ...

. He ended the season averaging 12.1 points and 5.1 assists per game. His 172 assists that year were the 5th most in a season in Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball history. Although Johnson played four seasons, he retained one more year of eligibility, allowing him to play in the 2022–23 season. Before the season began, he was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten by the media. Johnson averaged 9.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. He broke his foot in a game against Kansas on December 17, 2022, forcing him to miss the rest of the season. Due to the injury occurring so early in the season, Johnson was granted a waiver to return for an unexpected 6th year, the 2023–24 season, which was his last for the Hoosiers.

Professional career

Memphis Hustle (2024–2025)

After going undrafted in the

2024 NBA draft The 2024 NBA draft was the 78th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft. Unlike recent years, the 2024 draft took place over two nights. This was the first NBA draft to be held on multiple nights since the draft ...

, Johnson joined the

Austin Spurs The Austin Spurs are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cedar Park, Texas, and are affiliated with the San Antonio Spurs. The team plays their home games at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. The team has made the po ...

on October 26, 2024 before being traded to the

Memphis Hustle The Memphis Hustle are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in the Greater Memphis suburb of Southaven, Mississippi, and are affiliated with the Memphis Grizzlies. The team plays their home games at the Landers C ...

. On January 10, 2025, he was waived by the Hustle.

Rip City Remix (2025)

On January 18, 2025, Johnson joined the Rip City Remix, but was waived six days later.

Sioux Falls Skyforce (2025-present)

On February 19, 2025, the

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team has played its home games in the Sanford Pentagon since the 2013–14 ...

acquired Johnson from the available player pool.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 33 , , 31.2 , , .415 , , .352 , , .751 , , 3.9 , , 4.5 , , 1.3 , , .1 , , 15.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 32 , , 33.2 , , .373 , , .330 , , .761 , , 3.7 , , 4.9 , , 1.8 , , .2 , , 11.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 18 , , 16 , , 28.6 , , .426 , , .321 , , .787 , , 3.4 , , 5.7 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 14.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 34 , , 27.7 , , .406 , , .383 , , .782 , , 3.8 , , 5.1 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 11 , , 11 , , 25.2 , , .415 , , .370 , , .795 , , 3.3 , , 4.9 , , 1.2 , , .0 , , 9.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , style="text-align:left;",

, 20 , , 13 , , 25.6 , , .425 , , .367 , , .688 , , 2.6 , , 3.8 , , .8 , , .3 , , 7.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 149 , , 139 , , 29.3 , , .405 , , .350 , , .761 , , 3.5 , , 4.7 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 12.2

Personal life

On April 3, 2022, Johnson was arrested in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...

, for reckless driving and resisting arrest. He later remarked, "I thought my career was over, honestly. I got my second chance. I’m mad at myself for doing something like that, but I’m glad God gave me a second chance to come back and play, what I love to do." Head coach

, who said he took away Johnson's driving privileges, noted that Johnson grew a lot and took advantage of his second chance: "X has grown a lot, based on the things that he's done this summer. He's put himself in a wonderful position with me being the coach that I like everything about what X is doing now because he is doing the right things on and off the court."

References

External links

Indiana Hoosiers bioPittsburgh Panthers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Xavier 1999 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American men's basketball players Basketball players from Virginia Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players Memphis Hustle players People from Spotsylvania County, Virginia Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball players Point guards Rip City Remix players