An absolutely scary moment happened early in Saturday’s game between the Florida Gators and Florida State Seminoles when Gators star Keyontae Johnson collapsed on the court.
As Florida was coming out of a timeout with a little over 16 minutes to go in the first half, ESPNU’s cameras immediately cut away from the action on the court and the broadcast team said that Johnson had collapsed. He was immediately given emergency medical attention and taken off the court to the locker room.
Here’s the description of what happened from Florida radio’s Mick Hubert, who says Johnson fell down at the top of the arc after returning to the court and fell “flat on his face.”
Not sure how some can be so emotionally disconnected from the current situation with Florida MBK. Disappointing amount of callousness and thoughtlessness on the TL right now. Maybe this from the Florida radio crew will help re-center some of you. Heart is with Keyontae Johnson RN pic.twitter.com/75BUYRRNcX
— libgator (@lib_gator) December 12, 2020
Florida players were seen crying and hugging one another afterward while Gators coach Mike White consoled them. Eventually, the game restarted, though it’s hard to imagine the Gators will be able to fully concentrate on a basketball game.
Johnson was transported to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where he is undergoing evaluation and is said to critical but stable as of the time of this writing.
Keyontae Johnson is being taken to a local hospital for further evaluation, and we'll share an update when we can. https://t.co/bUkidjT4qd
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) December 12, 2020
Just minutes earlier, Johnson seemed like his normal self, dunking the basketball and setting his teammates up for points of their own.
https://twitter.com/Efawcett7/status/1337801388361805824
Here is the sequence for Keyontae Johnson just before his collapse. Before his great alley-pop dunk, he had a weak, awkward-looking corner 3 attempt. Early sign of symptoms? After his dunk, his celebration with teammates seemed somewhat subdued after a great play and great start. pic.twitter.com/DNW3me5oDg
— Jonathan Arnholz (@JArnholz) December 12, 2020
The junior from Norfolk, Virginia led Florida with 14 points per game last season and also led the Gators with 38 steals.
More details as we learn them.
