Robert Johnson says he's ready to play in NCAA Tournament

Robert Johnson sat in the corner of the Indiana locker room Wednesday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa and calmly and confidently answered question after question regarding his up-to-the-minute status with regard to playing Thursday in the NCAA Tournament first round game with Chattanooga.

As of Wednesday, it had been 26 days since Johnson had injured his left ankle late in IU’s Assembly Hall victory over Purdue. He admitted it had been difficult just sitting there watching his teammates both in practice and in subsequent victories at Illinois and Iowa, before closing the regular season with a win over Maryland on Senior Day. It was hard watching last week’s Big Ten Tournament loss to Michigan, too.

“The competitor in me wanted to be out there helping my guys but I just wasn’t ready,’’ Johnson said. “But I thought Harrison (Niego) came in and did some really good things for us and Nick (Zeisloft) really stepped up, too. That made things a little easier knowing that we had guys that could step up and get the job done.’’

As much as Johnson has yearned to play again, he didn’t want to rush things and neither did the IU medical staff. Even as it pertains to Thursday’s first NCAA Tournament game, Johnson expects to play for the first time in nearly a month but the reality is he’ll still need to get the final OK from the medical staff before he can plays against the Mocs.

“I’m really close to playing and I expect to play (Thursday),’’ Johnson said. “In fact at this point I’ll be really surprised if I don’t play. But in the end it won’t really be my decision. It will be the doctor’s decision but I completely expect to play.’’

Later, when Indiana went through its public practice at the arena for 40 minutes Wednesday afternoon, Johnson didn’t appear to show any limitations on his ankle. He was able to ease into shots and cut in both directions equally well. But he wasn’t do any live scrimmaging either, at least not in that public practice setting. It was likely much different when the team held its private workout Wednesday in Des Moines.

The challenge when you miss that much playing time, however, is always the conditioning aspect. Johnson isn’t expecting any problems in that regard. As he said, he has only missed less than a month of actual playing time and it hasn’t been rushed back because the medical staff wasn’t willing to take any chances.

“Earlier on, if I had tried to come back, the conditioning piece might have been a challenge,’’ Johnson said. “But the staff has done a good job of easing me back into live action and simulating game movement to the point where I can get my confidence back and the explosion off my ankle that I’ll require.

“As I said before, I’ll be 100 percent confident when I go out and play.’’

Before he got hurt, Johnson had been putting up solid, steady numbers in his sophomore campaign. The 6-3 guard from Richmond, Va. Had started 22 of 28 games and was averaging nearly 26 minutes of playing time per game. He was averaging 8.2 points and 3.5 rebounds. He was shooting 43.6 percent from 3-point range, having hit 48 of 100 shot attempts. Overall, his shooting percentage was 44 percent.

He scored 17 points in the win over Notre Dame back in December and 16 when IU beat Michigan on the road in Big Ten play. He also had the game-winning steal in the Assembly Hall victory over Wisconsin.

When he got hurt against Purdue on Feb. 20, Johnson had played 27 minutes in the game and had hit a pair of 3-pointers. But late in the game, he said he was driving to the past and as he planted his left foot he hurt his ankle. He knew it right away – pretty much in midair – and at that point was pretty much shut down until this week.

Max Bielfeldt said there is no question about how much better Indiana could be if Johnson is able to be re-inserted into the lineup.

“When you take someone out of your lineup who has been that important and that much of an integral part of everything you do it just makes things that much more difficult,’’ Bielfeldt said. “So absolutely we can’t wait to have him back and playing. Robert is a really good player and he can do so much for us.’’

When asked about Johnson’s status in his press conference Wednesday, Indiana coach Tom Crean was also optimistic.

“Robert is doing more and I would say right now he is definitely probable as long as things continue to move in the right direction that they’re moving now,’’ Crean said. “His first time doing anything of a full court nature was (Tuesday). We worked him out Monday but it was more of a half court situation.’’

Crean said that Johnson has been making steady progress. Looking back though, even if IU had made a deep run in the B1G Tournament, Crean didn’t think Johnson could have played.

“Even if we had gone all the way last weekend, I don’t think he would have been able to do that,’’ Crean said. “He’s made a lot of progress though so I think he’s probable.’’

Johnson believed there was a chance he could have played in Indianapolis last weekend. He went through the warmups prior the IU-Michigan game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse but that was as far as things were allowed to go.

“I had it in my mind that there was a chance that I could have played last weekend but in the end we decided against it,’’ Johnson said. “You never want to come back too soon, especially at this time of year.’’

Johnson admitted that one of the biggest concerns at this point is from a mental standpoint.

“It’s just difficult especially from the fact that at any moment you can tweak it again,’’ Johnson said. “I think it has been the bone bruise that I’ve been dealing with in my left ankle that has been the most pain I’ve been dealing with right now. I think I’m at a good place though and the doctors have really done a good job of getting me prepared to deal with various live situations.’’

Johnson said he is not expecting any limitations on how much he is able to play when he gets out there.

“I think once they give me the green light, I should be able to play as much as I’m needed to play,’’ Johnson said.