Keyontae Johnson has been diagnosed with acute myocarditis, a heart infection, according to him The Gainesville Sun.
Johnson, selected as the preseason SEC Player of the Year at the University of Florida, collapsed on December 12 in a game against the state of Florida. He was rushed to a local hospital, admitted to critical but steady state. Two days later his health improved and he was admitted steady state.
Today, Johnson was released from the hospital.
In a statement, Johnson’s parents were careful not to draw “definitive conclusions” about their son’s “illness.”
But according to a source from Zach Abolverdi, a Gators sports beat journalist for the Gainesville Sun, Johnson was diagnosed with acute myocarditis after undergoing an MRI on his heart. Abolverdi says the source was a person with ‘first hand knowledge’ of the situation who ‘spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity [sic] of the situation. “
Johnson, along with other UF teammates, tested positive for COVID-19 this summer.
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Myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, is usually caused by viral infections and has been linked to COVID-19.
Abolverdi writes that Johnson’s reported condition “cannot be definitively linked to his COVID diagnosis,” but “it could prompt the SEC and other conferences to further test athletes who contracted the virus for fear that the inflammation would later develop. could develop. “
In the 1990’s, myocarditis was found in Loyola Marymount’s star Hank Gathers and NBA great Reggie Lewistwo basketball players died on the field in the first half of the decade. Like Johnson, Gathers collapsed in the middle of a game and later succumbed to heart disease. Lewis also collapsed during a game, recovered and was allowed to play before collapsing again in practice and later died of the heart disease.
Under SEC protocols, Gator athletes who tested positive for the virus had to undergo multiple cardiac exams.
Johnson was considered an NBA prospect before the start of the season.
Abolverdi says Johnson will be off for at least three months and “likely” to miss the rest of the 2020-2021 college basketball season.
This is a story in progress.