Nearly two years since former Florida star Keyontae Johnson's scary collapse on the court in a game against cross-state foe Florida State, Johnson made his debut with his new team, Kansas State, and put on a show Monday. Johnson drew the start for the Wildcats in their season-opener against UT Rio Grande Valley and delivered 13 points, four assists and two boards in a 93-59 win.
"I'm feeling good. Just thanking God every day for giving me the opportunity to get here and play again," Johnson said. "I was little emotional [before the game], but I knew the game had to go so I had to just go play, lay it out for my team."
Johnson finished the game 4-of-8 shooting from the field including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, which included a splash on his first attempt from outside that got the Kansas State crowd roaring early in the first half.
Nearly two years ago, Keyontae Johnson collapsed coming out of a timeout while playing for Florida.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 8, 2022
On Monday, he started and scored 13 points for Kansas State in his return to the court 👏 pic.twitter.com/wuEarMe1ty
Johnson's collapse on Dec. 12, 2020, was thought to have possibly ended his college career. But after missing the final 21 games of the 2020-21 season and all of the 2021-22 season while staying at Florida, he transferred to Kansas State this offseason to finish his college career playing in the Big 12.
"For Keyontae, I told the guys 'nobody should be unhappy tonight,' because Keyontae Johnson played a basketball game tonight. A real game for the first time in two years," said new K-State coach Jerome Tang.