Florida star Keyontae Johnson collapsed on the court on Saturday as he walked to the bench during a timeout and was taken off the floor on a stretcher in a scary scene during the Gators’ game against rival Florida State in Tallahassee.
Johnson was taken to a local hospital where he was in “critical but stable condition,” in the official update given by Florida on Saturday afternoon, but since then there have been no official updates on his status. That changed on Monday when Johnson’s grandfather, Larry DeJarnett, spoke with USA Today’s Josh Peter and Tom Schad and said Johnson had been transported from Tallahassee to Gainesville and placed in a medically induced coma, with the hope of bringing him out of that on Monday afternoon.
“They’re just not sure,” DeJarnett told USA TODAY Sports. “He may have had activity in the brain, so they induced the coma. They put him on medication to keep him sedated.”
There have been reports that Johnson was among the Florida players who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the year, as the Gators paused activities back in November due to positive tests, but DeJarnett told USA Today he was unsure if Johnson had previously had the virus or if his current condition was related to complications.
Given there have been some cases of myocarditis and other heart conditions detected in those who have had the virus, some wondered aloud if that could’ve been the case with Johnson, but to this point there has been nothing official stated about that possibility. For now, the hope is that Johnson is brought off of sedation and out of the coma soon, and will be able to make a full recovery. We will provide further updates when they are made available.
UPDATE: Florida offered a new update on Monday afternoon indicating Johnson had been transferred to Gainesville and was able to follow simple commands but remains in critical but stable condition.
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) December 14, 2020
