John Calipari reveals special offer he extended to Mike White, Keyontae Johnson during Florida’s senior day

Saturday was an emotional game for Florida and Keyontae Johnson.

A former star for the Gators, Johnson has not appeared in a game since December of 2020 after a scary collapse on the court. He has remained with the team since leaving the hospital after that incident, and he was honored during Senior Day.

Florida honored Johnson by inserting him into the starting lineup as a ceremonial starter. He received the opening tip-off before checking out to a round of applause and hugs from players on both teams.

After the game, Kentucky head coach John Calipari discussed that emotional moment. Calipari indicated he wanted Johnson to start the game with a made layup and have it go into the books as an official bucket.

Calipari went on to say he extended that offer to head coach Mike White but that White and the Gators declined. Florida’s doctors did not want to take any undue risks with Johnson but were happy he had the chance to leave to applause.

Cal added on the postgame radio show that he offered this to Florida’s White before the game, who was appreciative, but the doctors didn’t want to risk anything with Johnson at this point. They were happy to have him just check out to a big applause. https://t.co/8Cdib5beph

— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) March 5, 2022

All in all, that’s a classy gesture from Calipari on what was an emotional send-off for Johnson.

Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.