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Indiana listed as a Top 4 school for versatile former Pitt guard

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Indiana is in consideration for a versatile guard out of Pitt who hit the NCAA transfer portal this year.

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello reported that Pitt transfer Xavier Johnson has narrowed his list of options down to four schools. Indiana, Baylor, Houston and St. Joseph’s are the programs still in consideration.

Johnson spent 3 seasons at Pitt and has been a dynamic player at the guard position. He averaged 14.2 points, 5.7 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game for the Panthers last year. He’s averaged double figures in scoring each of his three seasons with the program.

Indiana has lacked a player at the guard position with the ability to score at will and distribute the ball equally as well. Johnson has the ability to do both of those things.

Last season, Johnson scored a career-high 32 points in Pitt’s 83-72 upset win over Virginia Tech. He dished out a career-high 11 assists in a 79-73 victory over Duke. He’s had multiple games with double-digit assist totals, and while he doesn’t frequently score 25 points or more in a game, he has demonstrated the capability to take over when needed.

For an Indiana team that just got Trayce Jackson-Davis committed to a return for a third season in Bloomington, adding Johnson to the mix would provide IU with a substantial upgrade to its inside-outside game.

The Hoosiers are coming off a 12-15 season in 2020-21 but have named Mike Woodson the next head coach.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB