Kansas State forward Keyontae Johnson has been cleared by the NBA’s Fitness to Play panel and will be eligible to be selected in June’s 2023 NBA draft, his agents, Mark Bartelstein and Ross Aroyo of Priority Sports, told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
As Wojnarowski notes (via Twitter), Johnson was diagnosed with a heart condition that required surgery while with Florida in 2020/21, and it caused him to essentially miss two full seasons.
However, he successfully resumed his college career with the Wildcats in ’22/23, averaging 17.4 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 2.1 APG and 1.0 SPG on .516/.405/.715 shooting in 36 games (34.1 MPG).
Wojnarowski refers to Johnson as a potential first-round pick, though he is currently ranked No. 46 on ESPN’s big board, which may make him more like a mid second-rounder if that projection is accurate. Either way, it’s great news that he has been medically cleared for the upcoming draft.
This kid is definitely a 1st rounder IMO, even with this deep, deep draft. He was a projected lottery pick before his heart ailment became known, and he came back as good as he was before. Good luck KJ!