Kansas State among four finalists for Florida basketball transfer Keyontae Johnson
Kansas State basketball fans won’t have to wait much longer to find out if Keyontae Johnson wants to play for the Wildcats next season.
But there is suddenly more competition for the coveted transfer from Florida.
Johnson told On3sports on Wednesday that he is down to four finalists, and he is hoping to announce his decision within the next seven days. His finalists are K-State, Memphis, Nebraska and Western Kentucky.
Before this week, it seemed like Johnson was only considering K-State and Western Kentucky. But his recruitment has heated up as college basketball coaches scramble to add available players before the start of the fall semester.
Johnson was reportedly on a recruiting visit to Nebraska on Wednesday and is looking to schedule a trip to Memphis at some point later this week.
Florida transfer Keyontae Johnson is down to four schools, he tells @On3sports.
Memphis, Nebraska, Western Kentucky, and Kansas State.
Decision expected to come within the next seven days. https://t.co/ouwOjbjG9x pic.twitter.com/mmF3BWR9yV— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) August 17, 2022
K-State hosted Johnson on a recruiting visit in July. There was optimism that the Wildcats were in the lead for his services at that time, but new coach Jerome Tang has been waiting to find out his next move ever since.
Johnson would be an exciting late addition to Tang’s inaugural recruiting class with K-State. Not only would he give the Wildcats 12 scholarship players next season, he would give them a potential a difference-maker in the front court.
A 6-foot-5 and 229-pound forward originally from Norfolk, Virginia, Johnson averaged 14 points and 7.1 rebounds during his last full season with the Gators in 2019-2020. He was a first-team all-conference player in the SEC as a sophomore.
But he hasn’t played in a live game in nearly two years. His last appearance came on December 21, 2020, when he collapsed during a nonconference game at Florida State because of a heart issue.
Since then, he has been mulling his future options. He reportedly has a $5 million insurance policy that he could cash in on by medically retiring from basketball. But he was a projected to be a first-round NBA Draft selection before his scary injury.
It seems he has decided to play college basketball again after transferring from Florida.
He will make up his mind on his next team soon.
