Apu Old Wild West Udine is pleased to announce the signing of athlete Xavier Johnson. Andrea Gracis (Sporting Director): “We are bringing in a player with consolidated experience in the Italian championship, he will be in his fifth season between Serie A2 and Serie A, versatile, very reliable and with a great deal of energy.”
Adriano Vertemati (coach): “Xavier is a modern winger with the ability to score in many ways. He has ball handling and the ability to be effective rebounding and defending. Above all, we appreciated the competitive spirit and emotional involvement that he always demonstrated on the pitch.”
THE CARREER – Born in Temecula (California) on June 8, 1993, a 201-centimeter, 102-kilogram forward, Johnson arrives in Udine after a season as a protagonist in Forlì, ending with an average of over 15 points and 8.6 rebounds.
From 2012 to 2017 Johnson attended college at the University of Colorado Boulder. With the Buffaloes he immediately established himself in the NCAA championship as an excellent scorer from the arc, so much so that he closed his last year with 15 points and 6 rebounds on average with 38% three-point shooting. Once he finished college, the doors of the G-League (the NBA’s development league) opened. He played for two seasons with the Texas Legends, before moving to Europe. In his first year in Bulgaria, Xavier became the point of reference for Rilski Sportist with 16.7 points and almost 8 rebounds on average. In the summer of 2020 Johnson arrived in Italy: in Capo d’Orlando his numbers increased, exceeding 22 points on average. The following season saw him as a protagonist in Verona, where he shared the court with Lorenzo Caroti and Giovanni Pini and won the championship by beating Udine in the final. His first experience in Serie A was very positive. In 28 games Johnson scores almost 10 points and captures 6 rebounds on average with 51.4% from two. In the season just ended, the new Juventus wing confirmed his impact on the Serie A2 championship, almost averaging a double double. With Forlì Johnson won the Serie A2 Italian Cup.
