Tag: Keyontae Johnson

CBS Sports’ pick for Florida at Kansas State in SEC/Big 12 Challenge

Here’s what CBS Sports thinks of this evening’s UF-KSU matchup.

Florida basketball gets set to play the Kansas State Wildcats on Saturday evening inside Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas, as former Gator [autotag]Keyontae Johnson[/autotag] leads his top-five squad into the fray against his former team. While there is still plenty of love between the erstwhile preseason SEC Player of the Year and the Orange and Blue, it is all business once the jump ball toss is in the air.

Ahead of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge matchup — which in this case features a pair of programs who have split their two prior meetings — CBS Sports writer Kyle Boone published his takes on each game played during the challenge, including UF-KSU. Here is what he had to offer while picking the Wildcats to win by five.

Kansas State has yet to lose at home all season under first-year coach Jerome Tang and that streak won’t end this weekend with Florida rolling into the Octagon of Doom. The Wildcats are 8-3 ATS at home this season, too, so I like laying the number with them in this spot.

The Gators enter the matchup with no votes in either the Coaches or AP polls while sitting at No. 50 in the NET rankings, No. 35 in ESPN’s Basketball Power Index and No. 43 in KenPom. The Wildcats, on the other hand, are No. 5 in both polls and rank No. 9, No. 34 and No. 25, respectively.

Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. EST with the game broadcast on ESPN2 as well as the Gators IMG Sports Network.

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Gators hoops preparing to faceoff with a familiar face in Keyontae Johnson

Keyontae Johnson has been balling with the Kansas State Wildcats this season, but now he’s going up against his former team. Will Florida slow the former Gator down?

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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Florida stays steady in KenPom rankings following Wednesday’s win

Florida finds itself in the same spot as before Wednesday night according to KenPom.

Florida basketball hosted the South Carolina Gamecocks on Wednesday night and came away with a 21-point win to make it two in a row in Southeastern Conference competition. The Gators still have a way to go to get onto the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, but the victory gave the fans a lot to feel good about.

However, the win was not enough to move Florida in the updated Pomerory College Basketball Rankings — also known as KenPom — in which the Gators held steady at No. 41. Their most recent opponent USC dropped from No. 244 to No. 274 following its loss.

Next up for the Orange and Blue is a trip out to Manhattan, Kansas, to face [autotag]Keyontae Johnson[/autotag] and the fifth-ranked Kansas State Wildcats, who are currently ranked No. 26 in the KenPom. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. EST on Saturday, Jan. 28, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2 as well as the Gators IMG Sports Network.

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Gators get a boost in ESPN’s BPI after beating Gamecocks

The Gators are inching up the BPI after Wednesday night’s win.

Todd Golden’s gang continues winning on Wednesday night, laying an 81-60 beatdown on the visiting South Carolina Gamecocks who were the unfortunate recipient of Florida basketball’s breakout. The win improved the Gators to 12-8 overall on the season and 5-3 in Southeastern Conference play.

Following the victory, the Gators got a modest bump in ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, moving up from No. 38 to No. 35 in the rankings. Florida has been hovering in the 30s for quite some time and appears to be well-entrenched just outside of the top 30 teams in the country. The Gamecocks dropped from No. 266 to No. 270 after their loss.

Next up for the Orange and Blue is a trip out to Manhattan, Kansas, to face [autotag]Keyontae Johnson[/autotag] and the fifth-ranked Kansas State Wildcats, who rank No. 34 in the BPI. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. EST on Saturday, Jan. 28, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2 as well as the Gators IMG Sports Network.

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Florida drops in NET update despite win over South Carolina Gamecocks

It’s only a couple of spots, not much to worry about following a win.

Florida basketball made it two in a row on Wednesday night with an authoritative home win over the visiting Southeastern Conference foes, the South Carolina Gamecocks. The Gators were favored heavily both by the oddsmakers and the analytical rankings, and those metrics did not fail.

However, despite the victory, [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag]’s team slipped in the updated NET rankings the morning after, dropping from No. 44 to No. 46 following the win. Nonetheless, Florida now has a 1-6 record in Quadrant 1 games, 2-2 in Quad 2, 5-0 in Quad 3 and 4-0 in Quad 4 —the latter representing its most recent triumph.

Next up for the Orange and Blue is a trip out to Manhattan, Kansas, to face [autotag]Keyontae Johnson[/autotag] and the fifth-ranked Kansas State Wildcats, who are currently ranked No. 17 in the NET. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. EST on Saturday, Jan. 28, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2 as well as the Gators IMG Sports Network.

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Former Gator off to a hot start at new transfer portal destination

It is bittersweet to see Keyontae Johnson find success elsewhere after all he went through in Gainesville.

Former Florida Gators forward [autotag]Keyontae Johnson[/autotag] is off to a hot start with his new team, the Kansas State Wildcats. After collapsing on the court against the Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee in December of 2020, the former All-SEC player seems to have finally returned to full strength.

A lot of patience was spared on Johnson while he was in Gainesville as both the fans and the program wanted nothing more than to get their star player back on the parquet. Unfortunately, that was not in the cards for the 6-foot-6-inch, 230-pound athletic frontcourt player who was unable to be cleared by the university’s medical staff.

One school’s loss is another’s gain as exemplified by Johnson’s move to the middle of the country, where he has caught the eyes of many as a member of the Wildcats. CBS Sports writer David Cobb is among those who have taken notice, including the former Gator in his latest college basketball star power index. Here is what he had to offer on the forward’s return to greatness.

It has been a long time since Johnson played through the grind of a college basketball season. He served as a coaching assistant of sorts at Florida in 2021-22 while held out for medical reasons following a scary collapse he suffered in the fifth game of the 2020-21 season. In essence, the 2019-20 season was the last time we regularly saw Johnson on the court. That was three seasons ago, and while he was spectacular for the Gators that year and earned all-SEC honors, it was fair to wonder how good he would be at Kansas State this season. Well, he’s been nothing short of spectacular while averaging 17.7 points for first-year coach Jerome Tang. The Wildcats are off to a 12-1 (1-0 Big 12) start, largely due to Johnson. He leads the team in scoring and is averaging 6.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals while making 56.9% of his shots.

Thanks in part to Johnson’s efforts, the Wildcats currently hold 41 votes in the latest AP Poll, 38 votes in the Coaches Poll and ranked No. 17 in the NET. KSU next faces the Baylor Bears (No. 16 Coaches, No. 19 AP) on Saturday, Jan. 7 with tipoff slated for 6 p.m. EST.

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Breaking down Florida basketball’s Jumpman Invitational loss to Oklahoma

Pat Dooley gives his quick takes from Florida’s late-night loss in Charlotte to the Sooners.

Florida has an Oklahoma problem. A big (12) Oklahoma problem.

Over the last three years, the Sooners have beaten the Gators in just about everything – football, basketball, softball and baseball. On Tuesday night, it was basketball again as the Gators fell 62-53 in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The loss leaves Florida at 7-5 entering Southeastern Conference play with only one non-conference game left in late January at the Kansas State Wildcats in a reunion game against former Gator and on-court catastrophe survivor [autotag]Keyontae Johnson[/autotag].

Here’s a breakdown of Tuesday night’s upset (according to the oddsmakers) on neutral court to the Sooners in the Jumpman Invitational.

Which bowl game does ESPN predict Florida to wind up in?

Well, at least it’s not the Gasparilla Bowl, right? Check out which bowl games ESPN thinks Florida plays will play in to close out the 2022 season.

In 2021, Florida barely qualified for a bowl game and wound up losing to UCF, 29-17, in the Gasparilla Bowl. If ESPN’s preseason predictions are close to accurate, the Gators will once again find themselves in a minor bowl game as the team looks to rebuild under [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag].

ESPN had two experts make the projections, Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach, so Florida has two placements on this list. Bonagura has the Gators facing off with the Miami Hurricanes at TIAA Bank Stadium in Jacksonville on Dec. 29 for the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. It’s close to home and would be an in-state battle similar to last season’s finale against the Knights, except Florida won’t be in lame-duck mode with Napier looking to close things out strong in year one.

Schlabach projects Florida to play against Kansas State in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Dec. 28 in Memphis, Tennessee. That’s a lot further from the Swamp than Jacksonville, and there’s not much of a rivalry going on with Kansas State at the moment. A close game and the transfer of [autotag]Keyontae Johnson[/autotag] is the proper kindling needed to start that fire, though.

A clash between Florida and Miami seems like the better option for everyone involved, but Napier and Co. are hoping to shock everyone and land a New Year’s Six bid. That might not be possible given the strength of the two giants atop the SEC right now, but it’s the goal.

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Former Gator finds new home despite career-threatening medical condition

The Gator Nation wishes a safe and prosperous future for Keyontae Johnson at his next stop.

The next chapter in the [autotag]Keyontae Johnson[/autotag] saga appears to be set, with reports indicating that the former Florida forward is taking his talents to the Kansas State Wildcats.

The one-time Southeastern Conference preseason player of the year‘s career in Gainesville was cut short by a cardiac condition that resulted in a collapse on the court against the Florida State Seminoles back in December of 2020. After a lengthy amount of time away from the game while Florida’s doctors evaluated his condition — which still has not been fully ascertained — the medical staff simply could not clear the young student-athlete for a return to action without the possibility of a relapse.

Subsequently, Johnson sought second opinions from other schools with the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Western Kentucky Colonels in play along with Kansas State, presumably due to those programs’ confidence in a positive prognosis for the former Gator’s condition. It was reported that KSU’s medical staff cleared Johnson to play in the upcoming season.

The 6-foot-5-inch, 229-pound forward was considered a strong favorite for a first-round selection in the 2021 NBA draft before his traumatic event. He had put up averages of 14 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game in his 2019-20 sophomore campaign while averaging 16 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and one steal in his four games before his collapse.

Florida is scheduled to face Kansas State for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge in Manhattan, Kansas, on January 28, 2023, with a start time and broadcast still to be determined.

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All-SEC Forward Will Not Commit to Nebraska After Visit

After an official visit, this forward is not expected to commit to the Nebraska Cornhuskers

On August 17, it was reported that the Nebraska Cornhuskers were one of four finalists for former Florida Gators forward Keyontae Johnson. Johnson also took an official visit to Nebraska on August 17.

Johnson was a First-Team All-SEC selection in 2019. Unfortunately, he collapsed on the court during a matchup with Florida State on December 12, 2020. He was subsequently hospitalized and placed in a medically induced coma.

Johnson entered the transfer portal on May 1, 2022, looking to make a return to college basketball.

On August 20, On3’s Robin Washut provided an update on Johnson’s recruitment. According to Washut, Johnson is not expected to commit to the Cornhuskers.

Nebraska had concerns about Johnson’s heart condition, and their medical team did not feel that they were given enough time to make a proper evaluation.

“The issue was with Johnson’s heart condition, which ended his Florida career on Dec. 12, 2020, when he collapsed during a game against Florida State,” Washut wrote. “Given that Nebraska only recently got involved in pursuing Johnson, there wasn’t enough time for the Husker staff and medical team to thoroughly evaluate his condition and the potential consequences of continuing his basketball career.”

With Nebraska out of the picture, Johnson’s remaining finalists are Memphis, Kansas State, and Western Kentucky.

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