Keyontae Johnson at No. 5 K-State to face ex-Gator teammates

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — There are still ahandful of players left at Florida who remember the exact moment,during a timeout against rival Florida State more than two yearsago, that Keyontae Johnson collapsed to the floor and time seemedto stand still.

Johnson was loaded onto a stretcher, taken to the hospital andremained there for more than a week.

It was the last time he stepped on the floor for the Gators,other than a senior-day sendoff when he went out for an openingtip. Considering doctors at Florida and numerous other schoolswould not clear him to play given the heart condition that led tohis collapse, it could have been the last time he stepped on thefloor, period.

Kansas State was willing to let him play, though. Its medicalstaff examined his history, put him through a battery of tests andultimately decided, with close observation, the senior could resumehis basketball career.

He’s set to the lead the No. 5 Wildcats against — you guessed it— Florida on Saturday night.

“It’s going to be amazing just playing against the team (where)I started college basketball,” Johnson said, “and just seeing mybrothers back on the court, and just having to have that feeling ofa family around me again.”

The exact nature of Johnson’s heart condition has never beendisclosed, though he told The Associated Press prior to the seasonthat he was on medication to help control it. But he said he hasn’tharbored animosity toward Florida or its medical staff,understanding full well the ramifications if something happenedagain.

“It was very tough,” Johnson acknowledged this week, “but theyjust had to do what was best for them medically and what they feltwas safe for me. There is no ill will or hate for them. I’m still aGator for life.”

Except on Saturday, when he’ll most decidedly be a Wildcat.

Johnson was voted SEC preseason player of the year in 2020, andthe 6-foot-7 forward with the NBA-ready inside-outside game wasstaring at the possibility of becoming a first-round pick.

He never imagined becoming a glorified coach, which is whathappened when he was released from the hospital and rejoined theGators — a role he took on with a passion. Johnson even had a $5million insurance policy that he could have collected had he neverplayed another minute of college or professional basketball.

He loved the game too much for that.

Once cleared by K-State, Johnson became perhaps the mostimportant piece in the program’s major transformation. First-yearcoach Jerome Tang, who had helped build Baylor’s dynasty over thepast two decades, brought together a collection of talented butlargely underappreciated Division I and junior college transfers,along with a couple of prep prospects, to join a couple ofholdovers from the end of Bruce Weber’s tenure.

In all, 14 players from last season were gone and a dozennewcomers arrived.

The Wildcats have been one of the incredible stories of thecollege basketball season, climbing into the top 5 in the AP pollfor the first time in more than a decade. They scored 116 points inbeating No. 6 Texas, edged No. 19 Baylor in overtime and produced acourt-storming 83-82 overtime win over No. 2 Kansas — thanks toJohnson’s alley-oop dunk out of a timeout.

“We all watch (his) games when we’re on the road in hotels, andwe just cheer him on, ’cause we know how much he cared aboutbasketball,” Florida’s Colin Castleton said. “Everything he’s beenthrough just shows you how strong a human he is, and just how muchfight he has. He just pushed through it all, came with a greatattitude every day.

“He’s really superhuman, to be honest, in everybody’s eyes,”Castleton added. “It’s going to be awesome to see him play. I knoweverybody in the locker room and everybody who knows him is reallyhappy for him.”

That includes Mike White, his old coach at Florida, who is nowin charge of SEC-rival Georgia.

“Wish he was wearing red and black,” White said. “He’sunbelievable. He is so good.”

Johnson is third in the Big 12 in scoring at 18.3 points pergame, and third in rebounding at 7.5 per game. He’s shooting nearly40% from the 3-point arc, nearly 75% from the foul line and is inthe league’s top 10 in field-goal percentage.

Just as importantly, Johnson is providing leadership for a teamassembled in a span of months.

“The silver lining, if there is any silver lining, is he had along time where he just worked on his skill level,” White said. “Hegot in the gym and shot. He’s gotten even better and better. Hisconfidence level is at an all-time high. Those guys are doing aterrific job with him. We root for him like crazy. My kids lovewatching them on TV.”

You can bet a lot of people will be watching this weekend.

“This guy’s overcome stuff that none of us can even understand,”Castleton said. “When he had chances to feel sorry for himself orpout or have a bad day, he didn’t let it happen. It wasn’t going tohappen. He’s the epitome of character.”

___

AP Sports Writer Mark Long in Gainesville, Florida, contributedto this report.