Shortly after Dior Johnson's Dec. 9 sentencing to one year of probation stemming from charges from a domestic incident, Jeff Capel and Heather Lyke began to discuss their options.
After all, Johnson was not forced into a suspension per university policy anymore, as one of the two felony charges he faced out of five total from that incident was reduced, while the other was dropped.
Seventeen days after that sentencing, Johnson officially returned to practice and was reinstated to Pitt basketball. He is set to redshirt in the 2022-23 season, per Capel.
"It was a process that our athletic director and I talked and met with him," Capel said on Wednesday inside the Petersen Events Center. "We felt good about where everything is right now and giving the kid another chance. A lot of meetings, a lot of time with Dior. Throughout the whole process we stayed in touch, communicated, and just went through that process and just made that decision.
"I talked to guys on the team prior to us making that final decision. I talked to a group of guys about where we were and what I was thinking and what I think is best and wanted to get their thoughts on it, which, I really appreciate their thoughts. Made the decision to go in that direction. Dior addressed the team (Dec.) 26th. That's the first day that we got back, and he's been with us since."
The news of Johnson's reinstatement first came just after 2 p.m. Wednesday, as a news release was delivered from a Pitt Athletics spokesman:
"Pitt freshman guard Dior Johnson returned to practice this week and is expected to redshirt the 2022-23 season school officials announced Wednesday afternoon," the release said.
Johnson plead down to misdemeanors of simple assault and strangulation and was sentenced to a year of probation stemming from a domestic incident which occurred on Sept. 5 in Oakland. Prosecutors had sought two years of probation for Johnson, but he received one.
Johnson originally faced felony charges of aggravated assault and strangulation, as well as misdemeanor charges of unlawful restraint, simple assault, and false imprisonment.
"There's a university process that we have to adhere to, and then there's a process where we wanted to meet -- when I say 'we,' Heather and I wanted to meet with Dior and to talk to him," Capel said. "We have had contact, but not obviously face-to-face, and obviously as the case was ongoing we never talked about anything that was going on with the case. That's not my place. That's not our place. Once that was adjudicated then we met with him, and we wanted to talk. We wanted to just go through and hear from him and see what he's learned and things like that. Then Heather and I met. We talked, we discussed. None of that stuff happened until, I think the first time we did that was Monday before we played Syracuse (Dec. 19)."
Pitt played at Syracuse on Dec. 20 and is in the midst of a nine-day layover until its next game, Friday at noon against North Carolina.
"Over the break Dior and I had several conversations just about his role, about possibly redshirting, about what would be best. My thing is what's best for him. Obviously I'm always thinking about our program, but you've got a young guy that we're trying to teach. I still think that we're in the business of teaching. At least that's why I got into this thing and to help young people. I feel like he's a young kid that we can help, and we're going to try to help him."
Capel later added the decision to give Johnson a redshirt was mutually agreed upon.
"I just think it's the best thing," he said. "I mean he hasn't played basketball since October 7th, and it's very hard when you haven't played in almost three months to come back and to be able to play. There's a process. There's a ramp-up, and especially as you get to ACC play, it's very hard. You risk injury when you haven't played and you haven't competed. We just felt like it was the best thing for him and for us, but mainly for him."
Jamarius Burton confirmed that Johnson addressed the locker room, but did not get into specifics over what was said. (I later asked Burton about what was said, and he was not permitted to answer the question. A Pitt spokesman deferred to keep it internal.)
But, Burton and Blake Hinson each spoke of Johnson returning to practice and getting re-acclimated on the floor.
"I just feel like it's good to have everybody back in practice," Burton said. "More abled bodies, we're able to do a little bit more things on the scout (team). Having extra bodies out there, more reps, more opportunities to simulate our opponent. It's been good having him back, and we're just trying to get better each and every day."
Burton added that the team had a "family meeting" and that welcoming Johnson back was a "family decision."
"Everybody that was involved had great input into what we wanted to do and what was even possible for the rest of the season," Burton said. "For us, we're just trying to keep the main thing the main thing and just continue to push forward as a unit and lock in on our opponent on Friday."
Said Hinson: "It's good. It's good to have everybody back."
Capel noted growth and maturation from Johnson throughout his legal process and the process of working back with the team, though there is still more to that process for the 18-year-old.
"Yeah. I mean, I think when you go through something like he's been through, yeah, you learn a lot," Capel said. "You learn a lot about yourself, you learn a lot about people, you learn about who's with you, who's not. You learn a lot. He's been through a lot in 18 years. We have, and we'll see, but there's still a lot of growth for him."
