Former Indiana basketball guard Xavier Johnson working out for Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers will host former Indiana basketball guard Xavier Johnson for a pre-draft workout on Thursday.

Johnson was a late add, replacing USC guard Boogie Ellis.

Johnson will be joining guard Antonio Reeves (Kentucky), forward Jalen Bridges (Baylor), forward DJ Burns Jr (NC State), center Jesse Edwards (West Virginia) and guard Kalil Thomas (Morehead State).

The former Indiana basketball guard played 65 games in Bloomington and averaged 10.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. He started 58 games in his IU career. Johnson’s career at Indiana was highlighted by injures, however.

He played just 11 games during the 2022-23 season before suffering a broken foot that sidelined him for the rest of the season. Then in 2023-24, he played just 20 games and was in and out of the lineup for the entire season, dealing with ankle/foot and elbow injuries.

“I couldn’t be more proud and more happy for X because X has gone through a lot, man,” Mike Woodson said about Johnson last season. “From the time I got him, I coached him hard. I was tough on X, man. X wanted to give you all he could give you and the injuries just set in and he just wasn’t able to be on the floor a lot.”

Johnson was a catalyst for Indiana at the end of the 2021-22 season, however. During the final nine games of the season, including regular, Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament games, Johnson averaged 16.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 6.9 assists and shot 50 percent on 1.7 made 3s per game.

“Well, I thought two years ago, make no mistake about it, we got in the tournament because of Xavier Johnson and his play coming down the home stretch,” Mike Woodson said at Indiana basketball media day.

Johnson appeared in 149 games across six years in his collegiate career at Pitt and Indiana. He had career averages of 12.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals and shot 35 percent from three.

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