Florida Gators basketball player Keyontae Johnson remains in critical but stable condition and has been placed under a medical induced coma to be kept sedated. It appears to be part of a precautionary measure with his Grandfather, Larry DeJarnett Johnson revealing that he may have had activity in the brain.
“They’re just not sure,” DeJarnett said in a report from Tallahassee.com. “He may have had activity in the brain, so they induced the coma. They put him on medication to keep him sedated.”
Johnson had initially gotten treatment while he was in Tallahassee before he was transferred to the Gainesville hospital. At that time, the junior player was responsive to simple commands and also underwent tests before being placed in a medically induced coma. Attending physicians expect him to come out of the coma sometimes Monday afternoon.
.@GatorsFB TE Clifford Taylor IV has "11 KJ" written on his sleeve in honor of @GatorsMBK player Keyontae Johnson who collapsed earlier Saturday and was rushed to a nearby hospital.
Johnson is in critical but stable condition, the school said. pic.twitter.com/h6iWyjgMX4 — ESPN (@espn) December 13, 2020
The Gators community continues to throw their full support to Johnson who collapsed in the early minutes of their matchup against the Florida State Seminoles.
As mentioned in a previous post, Johnson came out of the team huddle after a timeout but collapsed somewhere near center court. Players from both sides were left in shock, some even crying at the horrific scene. Johnson was given immediate medical attention and carried out on a stretcher and then rushed to the hospital. The Gators were leading at that time 11-3.
Before the timeout, Johnson was coming off a big play where he slammed the ball home to finish a nifty alley-oop pass courtesy of his teammate, Tyree Appleby. Keyontae even celebrated after the play before heading to the Gators’ bench.
Also yet to be known is if the incident had anything to do with COVID-19. Last Summer, Johnson was among the players who tested positive for the coronavirus. However, De Jarnett is unsure if his grandson did test positive for COVID-19.
“I know that there was some of the times when some of the team was quarantined, yes. I don’t know if he was one of them or not,” DeJarnett said.
The Gators did not hold a practice Monday and players were given the option to either do weights or work out by themselves, ESPN reported.
Johnson was selected as the SEC Preseason Player of the Year and was leading the way for the Gators in the team’s first three wins for the tournament. Also, he opted to continue playing with the Gators rather than join the 2020 NBA Draft.
