‘They Gave Me a Second Chance to Play Basketball’
A tattoo upon the left arm of Keyontae Johnson reads, “Write Your Own Story.”
The ride for the fifth-year senior and No. 11 Kansas State couldn’t be scripted much better so far this season.
Once told that he would never again play at Florida following a scary collapse that he suffered in the fifth game of the 2020-21 season, the former SEC Preseason Player of the Year is headed toward All-Big 12 First Team honors while the Wildcats continue to hold strong as a top-four seed for the NCAA Tournament.
“I feel like God put me into this position to play and there’s no turning around now,” Johnson said. “Before the season started, we always said we were going to make the NCAA Tournament. We just focused on winning each day and we kept winning. That gave us confidence that we could be good.
“To be ranked this high is a blessing.”
The 6-foot-6, 230-pound Johnson, who collected his fifth Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honor on Monday, heads toward his final home game of his only season at K-State when the Wildcats, 22-7 overall and 10-6 in the Big 12, meet Oklahoma, 14-15 and 4-12, on Senior Night at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum.
Just as Johnson, a 2023 NBA Draft prospect, feels blessed that first-year K-State had coach Jerome Tang gave him the chance to play basketball again after a two-year absence following his medical scare, the Wildcats, too, feel blessed to have watched Johnson star alongside senior point guard Markquis Nowell over the past five months.
“I love K-State,” Johnson said. “This is like my second home for sure. I just appreciate everybody around here who appreciates me to come here. I appreciate the opportunity. Coach Tang and the coaching staff always said that they believed in me and I’d be able to play.”
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