Florida’s Micah Handlogten Prays, Shines on Court Where Season Once Ended
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Before Friday’s tip-off between No. 1 Florida and No. 9 Kentucky in the SEC quarterfinal, Micah Handlogten kneeled on the block outside the paint.
It was the same spot on the Bridgestone Arena court where he suffered a severe, compound fracture to his lower left leg during the 2024 SEC Tournament Championship against Auburn.
His head bowed, the arena created a quiet moment before thousands of fans entered the venue.
Just Handlogten and the court.
“I just took a moment to pray over the court,” Handlogten said. “I’m a very religious man so I just took a moment to walk over there when I had time and pray that this whole tournament be at least major injury free.”
Loading ...Two years later, that moment remains etched in Handlogten’s mind.
More than two minutes into the first half against the Tigers, a similar silence swept the arena as Handlogten’s cries echoed throughout the arena and his parents ran down to the court as the stretcher rolled him before being transported to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where doctors performed emergency surgery to insert a rod and screws.
Fast forward to this week’s 2026 SEC Tournament. Handlogten returned to that same spot, but this time with more motivation and appreciation of his journey.
“It was something that I wanted to do and something that I thought would just be fitting, so I took that moment,” Handlogten said.
Handlogten made a remarkable recovery and returned to play with the team in February 2025. He had initial plans to medically redshirt the 2024-25 season but rejoined the team early as a key bench player for the Gators’ national championship run.
“I don’t know if I could come back out on the same court after that happened,” Gators teammate Thomas Haugh said. “Micah coming back in general from that injury shows a lot about him and his character.”
Handlogten did not shy away from the opportunity to flip the narrative in Nashville Friday. In just the first half alone, Handlogten scored four points on 2-for-2 shooting from the field with three offensive rebounds in nine minutes.
“I had a lot of energy coming into this game,” Handlogten said. “It’s always fun playing Kentucky and we had a bunch of opportunities to go out there and play how we wanted to play so we came out there, played our game and it showed.”
Handlogten’s first offensive rebound resulted in a pass to a cutting Haugh for a layup. His next two offensive rebounds came in the same possession, with the second resulting in a one-handed slam off Urban Klavzar’s missed shot, extending the Gators’ lead to 10.
“That was crazy, I didn’t know he was athletic like that,” Haugh said.
Handlogten played with confidence and finished the game with four points, eight rebounds, one assist and one steal. The most important statistic of the day: Handlogten was plus-13 for the Gators while he was on the court.
After defeating Kentucky in the quarterfinal round of the SEC tournament 71-63, Florida looks forward to facing the winner of the No. 4 Vanderbilt vs. No. 5 Tennessee quarterfinal game. The tip-off of the SEC semifinal game is set for Saturday at 12 p.m.
Category: Feature Sports News, Gators Men's Basketball
