Florida basketball is preparing for what might be the most interesting game of its 2022-23 season. On Saturday, UF will travel to Manhattan, Kansas, to face the No. 5 Kansas State Wildcats and former Gator [autotag]Keyontae Johnson[/autotag].
The former SEC Preseason Player of the Year transferred to K-State from Florida after doctors at the school refused to clear him for play. It may hurt Gators fans to know that he’s leading a top-five team in scoring (18.3 points per game) and rebounding (7.5 rebounds per game), but Johnson’s comeback story was never going to happen at Florida.
The doctors couldn’t clear him after he literally collapsed in the middle of a game against Florida State, and the send-off on Senior Day last year was about as good as you can ask for given the circumstances. Now, he’s the centerpiece for a team on a surprise run and looks like a potential first-round pick once again.
Todd Golden can’t worry about what could have been, though. He needs to devise a plan to stop the man half his players called Coach Key a year ago. The first step is getting [autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag] back. Fudge went down in the second half against Mississippi State last weekend with a reported concussion and didn’t play in the South Carolina game.
Florida managed a convincing win against the Gamecocks, but they will need Fudge back in the fold to beat the Wildcats. Golden said he was hopeful that Fudge would be available for Saturday but no updates have come in on him since.
[autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] will be another major factor in limiting Johnson in the paint. He’s leading the SEC with 3.15 blocks per game and isn’t afraid to challenge players at the rim. The two know each other well, so expect the winner of that battle to be key in determining which team comes out on top.
Stopping Johnson would put the burden of scoring on guard Markquis Nowell, who mostly shoots from three-point range. Florida will have to make sure to keep him guarded, but it’s better than being dominated by a player that should have been a star for the Gators.
It won’t be easy to stop the fairytale senior year that Keyontae Johnson is having, but Florida is going to try its best on Saturday.
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