Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The doctor looked at Keyontae Johnson and told the University of Florida basketball star he had good news and bad news. Johnson asked for the bad news first and was rocked by it. 

He would not be able to play basketball this season. 

"That was the first time I cried since this all happened," Johnson said. 

The good news, however, was that the malady that sent Johnson face-planting to the floor at Tucker Center in Tallahassee on Dec. 12 was not COVID-19 related and the expert team of cardiologists studying his case had not ruled out the possibility of Johnson playing basketball again. 

That helped with the tears. A little bit. 

A handful of things, actually, have helped dry his eyes over the last two months. Let's start with the fact that Johnson, the affable and wildly athletic junior forward from Norfolk, Va., is alive and presumably well. That's a big one. Three weeks after his terrifying collapse early in UF's road game at Florida State, Johnson rejoined his team — to the absolute delight of the players, coaches and support staff — in both an inspirational and de facto coaching capacity, assisting with scouting upcoming opponents and serving as a sideline motivator and feedback-giver. He's had his parents, Nika and Marrecus, at his side ever since. He's back living in his apartment with roommates and close friends Noah Locke and Tyree Appleby. He's been cleared to do stretching exercises and yoga, plus some (limited) stationary shooting. The guy known as "Key" is back in the basketball fold and very much involved in the game he loves again. 

Clearly, he has much to be thankful for. 
 
"I would say I'm blessed to be here, yes. There's just not a lot more to say that that," Johnson said, recalling that day when a cardiologist — like a guardian angel from above — just happened to be sitting courtside in Tallahassee and ran onto the floor to assist. "I was passed out. I could have died. She jumped out on the court and saved me. If it isn't for her, I may not have had a second chance in life. You just can't take life for granted."

Johnson sat this week with FloridaGators.com for his first interview since that infamous December morning. Up to this point, updates on his health and progress have been released through the family via social media, with the Johnsons choosing to maintain the element of privacy relative to his medical condition. 

That same respect for privacy was extended during this interview, as the Gators returned to their practice facility late last week following COVID situations that wiped three games from their schedule. UF was forced to postpone road dates at LSU and Tennessee because the team did not have the Southeastern Conference-mandated seven scholarship players to field a team, due to illness, injury and contract tracing. The team lost Saturday's home game against Texas A&M due to COVID in the Aggies' program.

[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here] 

The Gators (10-5, 6-4), who have not played since a Feb. 3 home loss to South Carolina, had their first practice with most players back on Thursday and their first full-squad workout Monday. They return to action Tuesday night with a pivotal road date at red-hot Arkansas (16-5, 8-4), which has won six straight in SEC play and is coming off a huge road upset of 10th-ranked Missouri. The team, obviously, will be minus its best player. Again. 

But Johnson will be on the sidelines at Walton Arena, and appreciating every moment. 
 

"Write your own story" God said my work here ain't done 💙🤞🏽 pic.twitter.com/hJHlBIJmdg

— Keyontae (@Keyontae) December 18, 2020

Chris Harry: First off, how do you feel right now? 
Keyontae Johnson: "Right now, I just feel normal. Like nothing really happened to me. I mean, mentally, I know everything that happened, but if someone were to come up and see me they wouldn't know what had happened to me two months ago." 

CH: You seem in good spirits. You seem upbeat.
KJ: "Basically, everything happens for a reason and you're always going to see the dark side before things get brighter. To me, I can't dwell on the situation. It happened. Me having a negative mindset can only mess me up in the future. So I'm trying to have a positive mindset and make sure everybody sees me happy. I'm a big leader on this team. If they see me down they're going to think something is wrong and may cause us to struggle again. So I'm just trying to bring great energy, show everybody I'm smiling, that I'm fine, and just want the best out of these guys."

CH: Is all that positivity your idea or have you talked to people or been counseled on the best way to look at this? 
KJ: "I'd say it's both. It's basically me. I'm usually more to myself. When things go bad, I'll sit in a room and think about it. It's more about listening to my parents or Coach Nice (assistant Darris Nichols) and, just like Coach [Mike] White says: 'Next play.' You can't lay on the situation. It happened. Eventually I hope to get back out there, so I'm going to keep praying and keep it all in God's hands."

CH: Yes, but this is bigger than "next play," Key, let's be honest.
KJ: "But that's how I'm looking at it. I'm not going to sit around and think about the worst. I'm going to think about the positives; like the chance for me to be back and playing real soon, and how my doctors appointments have been going great. I just want to keep that mindset and keep things going forward."

CH: What can you tell me about Dec. 12? 
KJ: "I remember the day before, the night before. Me and Noah were in the hotel room. I was singing a Lil Baby song and he was recording it. We were just playing around in the hotel. The next day? … I'm not at a point where I'm thinking about that. I mean, it happened and it's over with now. … My dad and I talked about the play [early in the game] where I shot a 3 and hit the side of the backboard. I watched the highlights from that game. I shot that one, then the next play we got a stop and I came down and got an alley-oop dunk — and then I collapsed in a timeout. … When I woke up, I thought I was dreaming when I saw my mom in front of me. I remember the [doctor] calling my name. She was asking me questions to see if I'd respond. I was still really drowsy, but I could kind of open my eyes. My mom was standing right beside her. The [doctor] said, 'Who is that talking?' I had a tube in my mouth, but I could say, 'My mom.' Then I saw my mom smiling and crying at the same time. Tears of joy. Smiling and crying. Then I think I went back to sleep. The next time I woke up Coach White and Coach Nice were there. They were smiling. Then, later on that day, I FaceTimed with my teammates to let them know I was good. I couldn't talk, but I put a thumbs-up and could see them. They were all smiling and really happy to see me. I was still drowsy, and they were blurry, but I could see them." 

CH: I can only imagine what your mother was feeling.  
KJ: "My mom is the one who will cry. My dad is the type who doesn't want to see everyone crying, so he'll try to joke it out. He wants good vibes. He didn't want everybody to be sad in the hospital. I heard he was joking around with people in the lobby and just trying to get people to laugh. That's him." 

CH: When you were able to understand what happened, were you scared?
KJ: Yeah, of course. I was definitely scared. I had just woken up. I was confused and wasn't sure what was going to happen next. My grandmother was there in the room praying for me. We all prayed together and left it in God's hands."
 
CH: There's a video of the collapse out there. Did you ever see it? 
KJ: "Oh yeah, I watched it in the hospital. My mom didn't want me to see it. but I watched it. I mean, I had to rewind it back a couple times. When I first saw it, I was like, 'Damn!' My mom was surprised by my reaction because usually I don't have a lot of reaction to stuff, but that was different. I wanted to see the video that everyone was talking about. My mom had kept my phone for like three days after I woke up, even though I wanted it back on that second day. When I got it back, I'd seen how my phone was blowing up. First thing I did was go to YouTube and typed in 'Keyontae Johnson collapse' and it was right there."

CH: You said your phone was blowing up. How blown up? How many messages? 
KJ: "Probably over 2,000, between text messages, voice messages, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. My voicemail is still full because there are still messages I haven't responded to. I just haven't been able to. That's why I sent that [video] message out from the hospital thanking everybody, cause I wasn't going to be able to get to everybody."

CH: I know you got antsy in the hospital, right?
KJ: "You mean like ready to get out? Yeah. I mean, I felt fine, but I knew I wasn't fine. I had just started walking and my hips hurt. Sore like. I think it had to do with something that had been connected in there, but I wanted to show them that I was good. It did hurt a little bit, but I was ready to get out of there."

CH: Eventually, the team was told the next several games were canceled, everyone went home for the holidays, then reconvened on Dec. 29 for the first time since your collapse. You'd walked into the UF basketball facility probably a thousand times before. What was that day like? 
KJ: "It felt different. Honestly, when I sat in the hospital I never thought I'd be able to be back with the team and be around a court that quick. I thought it was going to be at least two weeks later, maybe more. But it was one of the first places I went and I was excited to be there. Excited for the team. It was right before the first SEC game. It just gave them a boost. 'Look, Keyontae is good! We're all good!' "

CH: How did your so-called coaching and scouting career begin? 
KJ: "When I was in the hospital I asked the coaches, 'What can I do to help the team?' One of them asked if I wanted to help coach with the scouts and stuff? I thought that was the best idea. The team listens to me, so I thought I'd try that. When I got out of the hospital I did the Vanderbilt scout. Everybody listened. Everybody did the right thing. Everybody came out and played hard. I felt that was the best idea for me, as far as being with the team. In the past, we'd had some guys, some instances, where players got hurt and mentally kind of went away. Got disengaged. I wanted to learn from that and stay engaged. This was the best way I could also learn while not playing and still study guys, study teams, study plays. I like it."

CH: OK, now I'll ask Keyontae, the coach, if he thinks he'll be Keyontae, the player, again.  
KJ: "I do. Right now, until the doctors say other otherwise, I'm going to stick with the positive mindset that I'm playing again. Some time. Yes, I do." 
 

CH: How does your family feel about that?
KJ: "My dad is staying positive. My mom is, as well. I remember her saying, 'What happens if the doctors say you can't play again?' I told her, 'I don't know. We're not at that situation, yet.' If that happened, I'd probably want to be a coach and take what I've learned from here and try to be a step ahead. But my mindset is I'm going to play again." 

CH: Assuming you do play, where would that be? Are you talking about, hopefully, the next level?  
KJ: "I haven't actually thought about it yet or talked to my parents about it. I like it a lot here. I feel like I've really developed here under the coaching staff. I look at myself from freshman year to where I was and that was a big jump. But I haven't thought about that yet."  

CH: And you don't have to, right now. Is there a timetable for when you're allowed to get back out there and start doing actual basketball activities?
KJ: "Hopefully this summer. But I'm still taking tests and going to be taking a lot more tests. I'll have to get on a treadmill eventually and be connected to things. MRIs, EKGs, stress tests, all that, to find out what caused this. I'm going to the doctor every two weeks."

CH: You definitely seem at peace with it all, versus being angry. 
KJ: "I am. I have my days when I'm down. On game day, it's a little hard for me. Pregame practice, shoot-around, just watching them and not being out there and they're about to play, that's hard. I get quiet sometimes, but then I break out of it, start talking and walking around. You might see me sitting at the scorer's table [during shoot-around or warmups] and just thinking. Sometimes I might isolate myself in the room for a couple minutes and just think. I have this notebook that [Associate Head] Coach [Al] Pinkins's wife gave me to write down my thoughts, write down my story. So I'll write down stuff sometimes. How I feel. I'll write it down to get my mind off things so I won't be mad. I will say, ever since this happened, my patience has gotten a little thinner. I get aggravated quicker. So when I feel like I'm getting that way, I isolate myself, write stuff down. My parents, my girlfriend, they all know now. They know how I am and let me go with it."

CH: When the team is playing, and playing well, do you feel an excitement for them or do you feel like you're missing out?
KJ: "No, I feel excited for them. You see me on the sidelines cheering everybody on. I'm happy for them. Everyone knows the situation. There's not much I can do, but I can be energy for them and tell them what I see on the court. I can be a voice for them. I still talk trash to the other team and have fun with it. I think when they play they feel my energy. The West Virginia game? I was right under the basket. It was almost like being out there with them. I was dappin' them up." 

CH: OK, let's flip it around. Are you frustrated with the team when things don't go well. Like the South Carolina game?
KJ: "For sure. When they're playing bad, I tell them at halftime. Coach says, 'Go talk to them and tell them what you see. Tell them to stay focused. Tell them to move the ball around.' I give them my voice while the coaches are huddling before they come in and talk to the team. They hear it from me, then they hear it from them."

CH: Do you think hearing it from you is different, since you're one of them? 
KJ: "Yes, because I was one of the leaders on the team. Everybody wants to listen and hear what I have to say."

CH: Can you be critical? 
KJ: "Yeah. I tell them, 'That's a bad shot.' I will say that there are certain people on the team I have to talk to differently. Noah and Tyree, they're my roommates. I can say whatever I want and they would do the same for me. I've gotten to the point where I know how to talk to certain players. I know how to talk to Omar [Payne]. If you yell at Omar, he's going to yell back, so you have to be calm talking to him. I talk to Ques [Glover] normally. I will get on Tre [Mann] some and we'll go back and forth. All the coaches yell at them. As a player, I know what they see, so I try to go at them differently, but also know why they're getting yelled at and I see that, too. I let Coach White and the others do the yelling. The doctor tells me not to do anything to bring my blood pressure up. But sometimes I'll pull them to the side, talk to them, tell them what I see."

CH: You're wearing that "Write Your Own Story" T-shirt again. I know it's a phrase that was coined and branded by Dimitri Bailey, a close family friend and mentor of yours from back home. You wore it in the video you tweeted out on Dec. 18 that's gotten 2 million-plus views, more than 7,000 retweets and 55,000 likes or comments. What does "Write Your Own Story" mean to you? 
KJ: Some people have harder stories than others. … I was from Norview [an area of Norfolk]. I was real short. I came off the bench for Boo Williams [AAU circuit], never got invited to any elite camps, and no one would have ever thought I'd go to Oak Hill or IMG or end up at Florida and be first-team All-SEC. So mine is one of those hard 'Write Your Own Story' stories."

CH: It got even harder recently, didn't it? 
KJ: Yeah. But I'm still writing it."