Xavier Johnson’s arrest requires serious consequence from Mike Woodson’s Indiana Basketball program

Should Xavier Johnson remain on Indiana University’s basketball team?

College students are going to be idiots occasionally, and that seems to have been the case early Sunday morning as Indiana Basketball point guard Xavier Johnson was booked into the Monroe County jail on a felony charge of resisting law enforcement and misdemeanor reckless driving.

Johnson’s Dodge Charger was allegedly clocked going 90 heading north on North Walnut Street, and when police tried to pull him over, Johnson ran a stop sign, parked in an apartment complex, and attempted to switch seats with a passenger of the vehicle.

Stupidity tends to be compounded as college students attempt to solve problems, and that seems to be the case with Johnson.

The question is not whether Johnson was a moron as he allegedly stacked errors leading to his arrest, but whether he should be excused from membership in IU’s most exclusive fraternity – the men’s basketball team – as a result.

First thing’s first – only through fate’s grace was no one hurt or killed in this escapade.  Anyone familiar with Bloomington streets knows that Walnut in one of its most heavily travelled roads with stop lights and a significant hill.  Going 90 there is tantamount to russian roulette.  The speed limit at its highest is 40.  A car turns right on red in front of a car going 90, and people die.

Johnson’s car was not the first to go 90 on Walnut, and won’t be the last.  That doesn’t excuse him from allegedly operating recklessly.  The attempt to swap seats shows Johnson’s striking lack of willingness to be held accountable for irresponsibility, and a shocking gullibility by his friend to take the rap.

Taken independently, this episode likely measures short of the standard for dismissal from the team and student body.  Combined with the lack of judgment during the episode that led to his suspension for the Northwestern game in Evanston less than two months ago, and a pattern of selfishness and irresponsibility begins to come into focus that demands coach Mike Woodson’s attention.

The hardliners among IU’s fanbase will call for Johnson to be kicked off the team, and they might be right.  Nothing gets the attention of the other members of a program than a teammate being expelled.  But I’m a bit more lenient.  There is an opportunity to educate Johnson through this debacle – to severely punish and thoroughly inform him.  Reflection during long runs tends to be an effective teacher.

Ultimately, the decision to exclude or include Johnson belongs to Woodson, and the lever for making that decision is trust.  If Woodson feels he can trust Johnson, he comes back.  If the suspension was the second strike instead of the first, that makes this arrest is the third strike.  Woodson could easily justify bouncing Johnson before continued irresponsibility from his point guard reveals his leadership as dangerously lenient.

4 thoughts on “Xavier Johnson’s arrest requires serious consequence from Mike Woodson’s Indiana Basketball program

  1. Bear

    Kent, you commented on this calamity in your first of the morning submissions. Now, you seem to want to double down on your earlier comments. You are the kind of person who senses what way the wind is blowing in order to feather his own nest. Not unlike the idiots that are running our country now. Kent, did you ever think of running for office. I think that you would fit right into the Washington style of blasphemy.

    In earlier posts, you chastised Johnson as a player who was a terrible example of a point guard, a player who deserved to sit rather than play. However, you witnessed this terrible point guard lead this mediocre team to a shot in the NCAA tournament. What I have seen tells me that you have something against Johnson. Especially since you feel it necessary to double down on your earlier comments today.

    I don’t think that anyone condones the behavior of this kid over the last few days, but you doubled down on this kid in your comments merely as an attempt to boost your own flaky approval. You remain at your best when you just keep your mouth shut.

    Reply
  2. Terry Johnson

    Continued giving a pass will lead to the same results of the Crean era ! And we all know how that mess ended ! This guy has no respect for any part of Indiana University or his coaches or teammate’s!!! He has a lot to learn about life and integrity . There has to be a reason Pitt would not release any information why he left there ?

    Reply
    1. Hugh Mungusdic

      Terry, you sound like an out-of-touch octogenarian. There’s this crazy website called “Google,” and if you knew how to use it then you’d know that X and Pitt’s then-head coach had their quarrels. Can’t say the same about him and Woody though, so your statement on that matter is irrelevant and laughable.

      A lot to learn about life? Maybe take a look in the mirror. I’m sure you never made mistakes when you were younger, or that you have nothing from your past that you’d do differently in hindsight. Hopefully you understood that previous sentence as sarcasm; had to make a disclaimer since you apparently don’t have the intellectual capacity to understand the functions of Google.

      In reality though, you probably ACTUALLY believe you’re some pure, great guy that’s never done ANYTHING wrong. You’re so accustomed to your little bubble of ignorance and being surrounded by people that share that same ignorance, and now you’ve become completely naive to social and cultural shifts. A sad, ignorant, hypocritical old man is what you truly are; and I think I speak for most when I say that the oldhead generation of IU fans — such as yourself — might be the worst section of a fanbase in all of college basketball.

      Reply
  3. John

    Good article! There is a significant difference between immaturity and reckless disregard of human life. Johnson’s choices fall within the latter. Young people today cry for opportunities and influence, but shy from responsibility for their actions. They demand to be treated as adults, then find shelter in “the mistakes of youth” to avoid the consequences of their misconduct.

    The younger generation has no patience for “what would Knight have done”. The older generation understands well how the Coach would have responded. Woodson isn’t Knight and seems unable to move beyond “talking the talk” to “walking the walk”. So I will phrase a question directed at today’s coaches in quality programs, i.e.

    “If Johnson was dismissed from IU today, who among today’s elite coaches would be on the phone with him offering a “safe haven”?
    One, ten, none? I think the answer to who would want him gives us the answer as to how IU should respond to his blatant disregard for the lives of his fellow students and countless others who call Bloomington either their temporary or permanent home.

    Reply

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