Indiana basketball guard Xavier Johnson ranked in The Almanac’s Top 100 Players
Xavier Johnson, Indiana basketball‘s senior starting point guard, lands himself in the No. 96 spot in The Almanac’s Top 100 Players. Every season, The Almanac releases a College Basketball Preview Magazine featuring the best college basketball players for that upcoming season. The Field of 68 partnered with Three Man Weave, Verbal Commits, and Heat Check CBB to bring together the top college hoops players for the 2022-23 season.
Last season, Three Man Weave assembled the top 125 players for the 2021-22 season and the only Indiana basketball player to appear on that list was Trayce Jackson-Davis, who landed in the #7 spot behind Hunter Dickinson (Michigan) at #6, E.J. Liddell (Ohio State) at #5, Paolo Banchero (Duke) at #4, Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga) at #3, Kofi Cockburn (Illinois) at #2, and finally, Drew Timme (Gonzaga) at #1.
Of the players that landed in the top 10, seven of them ended the 2021-22 season as consensus All-Americans and one of the outliers, which is quite dramatic, is the 2021-22 Naismith Player of the Year, Oscar Tshiebwe, landed at #57 on the list.
Xavier Johnson polished off his first season with the Hoosiers as a junior averaging 12.1 points, 5.1 assists, and 1.2 steals. Johnson had seven games with 15+ points and 5+ assists and totaled the second most assists (172) in the Big Ten, behind only A.J. Hoggard (174). The Pittsburgh transfer guard is going to have a very important fifth year senior year as he will lead the offense alongside Jalen Hood-Schifino, Miller Kopp, Race Thompson, and Trayce Jackson-Davis.
Ig it’s time to take it up a notch.📶 https://t.co/aqJCPVfBtL
— Xavier Johnson “X” (@XavierJ0hnson) August 25, 2022
Though I believe Johnson should have a higher ranking of 96, his defensive presence and leadership is way under-valued and should be more highly considered as, in my opinion, he should at least be in the top 75 of all college hoopers this upcoming season. “X” is going to be a real “X-Factor” for Indiana basketball to have a successful season.
Based on Johnson’s ranking, Indiana basketball should see Race Thompson and Trayce Jackson-Davis ending up on this list. Looks like Jackson-Davis, who will likely see himself land in the top 10 of this list, definitely disagrees with his point guard’s low ranking:
I cant see 20 people being better than you let alone 96… Lets wake them up bink. https://t.co/MYh99RUH3D
— TJD (@TrayceJackson) August 25, 2022
Next. Indiana basketball strengths and weaknesses for 2022-23. dark