Todd Golden provides update on Florida center Micah Handlogten

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Micah Handlogten is still in Nashville recovering from “a really good surgery” at Vanderbilt University on Sunday, Florida coach Todd Golden said Tuesday. The sophomore center fractured his lower left leg into SEC Tournament final against Auburn.

Handlogten was originally supposed to fly back to Gainesville on Monday, but that would have prevented him attending the Gators’ first-round matchup on Friday. Instead, he’s staying in Nashville to recover this week and will drive up to Indianapolis to join the team for the NCAA Tournament.

“I think it’ll be a huge lift for him and kind of get his spirits back. He’s honestly in great spirits, all things considered. Way better spirits than I’d be in, to be honest. But it’s going to be a huge lift for the team also,” Golden said Monday. “It obviously shook everybody up a lot. I think we’re still feeling it a little bit. But it gives us a great thing to rally around in the tournament.

“Everybody really respects Micah. Everybody loves him as a teammate. He’s one of, if not the best, teammates that we have and to have him there I think will bring joy to everybody. My hope is that the guys want to do everything they can to play their butts off for him on Friday.”

Handlogten went up for an offensive rebound and suffered the break upon landing, with bone penetrating his skin and blood on the court. The crowd at Bridgestone Arena went silent after Handlogten fell to the floor with 17:40 left in the first half.

Within moments, he was being tended to by medical personnel and a stretcher was brought out. His parents were allowed on the court to be near their son. The Auburn team even formed a circle to pray and players from both teams had looks of shock on their faces.

Florida forward Tyrese Samuel spoke with Handlogten on Monday.

“He said he was doing really well, he’s in good spirits,” Samuel said. “What happened to him was kind of tragic, but, as long as he’s in good spirits and he’s happy for us and he wants us to do well in the tournament, that’s all we can really ask for.

“It’s going to be great to see him (in Indy). We haven’t seen him since what happened, the last thing we did to him was touch the stretcher, make sure he’s alright. So, seeing him is going to be good because he always brings positive energy.”

Golden thanked deputy athletic director Lynda Tealer for helping manage Handlogten’s situation as well as men’s basketball associate athletics director Duke Werner and UF team doctor Kevin Farmer for their work.

He didn’t offer a timetable for Handlogten’s recovery.

“I don’t know exactly. He had a really good surgery. I think it went about as well as anybody could hope for,” Golden said. “I don’t really know the exact timetable. Obviously, it’s a pretty severe injury, so it’s gonna take a little bit. But we’ll have his back and whatever he needs from us and Duke and our staff. Really happy Dr. Farmer was there. I think that helped, obviously.

“I was grateful for the SEC and their staff. I thought the response was really good in the moment. Again, you don’t really plan for those types of situations. Whether it was our team doctors, Duke and his staff, SEC, even Auburn’s staff was quick on the floor to support him. I thought it was handled very well by everybody in the moment.”