John Calipari reveals special offer he extended to Mike White, Keyontae Johnson during Florida's senior day Paul Harvey | SDS Keyontae Johnson had not appeared in a Florida basketball 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. John Calipari reveals special offer he extended to Mike White, Keyontae Johnson during Florida’s senior day
He was literally dunking in the layup line pregame. We could have made a layup and allowed them to make a layup. But it was perfect regardless.
It was a classy offer but in making it known publicly, it seems as if he did it for reasons to promote his image, not a heartfelt gesture of compassion. But hey, he’s great at selling snake oil.
It was a classy thing to do , period. Maybe it's his way of telling SS he wants to be considered for the Florida job, should it come open.
Bingo. I totally agree. Look Im a biased Florida fan so if you aren't the coach of Florida you are the enemy in my book. Period. I got just as hard of a cut off line as the NET rankings do with quad 1 wins. Lol
People have losses the sense of gratefulness and compassion. Cal knew he made the mistake of not getting a true five star, in mine and his book by his play on the court. Seeing him play in the SEC tournament two years in a row, no one could stop him and nobody bowed up to Keyontae! A great Gator for life!
It appears Keyontae has a mentor for life in Coach Cal. Something very special. John Caliperi is a great coach and obviously appreciates his players and works hard to take care of them. I like Coach White and would have no problem were he to remain at UF for the rest of his career. However if things were to change, I would be beyond thrilled to have Coach Caliperi as our head coach. Thanks, Coach Cal!
May surprise none of you but I think Cal actually really does care about things other than himself. I’d suggest it’s the case that he genuinely cares AND doesn’t shy away from patting himself on the back.
