Micah Handlogten details his recovery process, decision to redshirt
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida starting center Micah Handlogten plans to redshirt as a junior, but he feels ahead of schedule in the recovery from his season-ending injury.
The 7-foot-1 Handlogten suffered a broken left leg in the SEC Tournament title game and had surgery in Nashville. He discussed his recovery process Tuesday on ESPN Gainesville.
“Honestly, I’m doing amazing right now,” Handlogten said. “I’m back at home in Charlotte right now, just with my family, done with school, just doing PT pretty much every other day. I’m up walking about, walking with barely even a limp right now. So, recovery has been going great.”
UF coach Todd Golden revealed last week that Handlogten will redshirt for the 2024-25 season. Handlogten admits the decision was “pretty tough” to make but best for his future
“Obviously, being an athlete for as long as I have, I just want to play. I play basketball because I love the game. So, it was a tough one, but at the same time, I had to put my body above my thoughts right now,” he said. “Thinking I want to play and actually being ready to play is two completely different things. And so, I decided that I would rather not rush myself back in and I would take my time and have a full recovery.”
Handlogten averaged 5.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 19.0 minutes in 33 games as a sophomore (32 starts). His best game was a 23-point, 17-rebound performance in the overtime win over Georgia.
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Handlogten is optimistic about being able to return to full strength in 2024-25.
“I don’t really know what the timeline is, but I feel like I’m ahead of schedule. I’m walking around really well right now,” he said. “During physical therapy, I’m doing stuff like leg extensions, squats, RDLs, stuff like that, just some minor movements to keep my leg activated. Nothing really heavy like that yet, but just small steps. It keeps me optimistic.”
Golden praised Handlogten for how he’s handled the recovery process and even credited him for recruiting frontcourt transfers Sam Alexis and Rueben Chinyelu to the Gators to help make up for his absence next season.
“Before we got Rueben and Sam, you know, if guys were looking at us and they saw Micah coming back, starter. Like, we knew it would be hard for him to come back, but they wouldn’t really think about, ‘Well is he going to be back in time or not?’ Like it was going to be a little bit difficult. So, having clarification on that, and Micah’s such a great dude. Like he helps us recruit these other bigs. He’s an awesome young man.
“But it was good for Micah, good for our program and now he can just pour all his efforts into his rehab and not feel the pressure of ‘I need to try to get back on the court by November.’ My hope is now, obviously not next year but the year after, he should be an absolute monster as he comes back fully healthy with a lot of confidence on the leg. So, his recovery is going as well as it could. His mentality has been amazing. I’m really proud of him and the way he’s gone about it. So, he’ll be back.”
