Tag: Micah Handlogten

Gators center expected to redshirt next season while recovering from injury

Not much of a surprise that Handlogten will redshirt after the grisly scene seen on the court against Auburn.

Florida basketball fans got some rather expected news on Friday when head coach Todd Golden suggested that one of his injured players is expected to redshirt next season.

Center [autotag]Micah Handlogten[/autotag], who sustained a severe compound fracture of his lower left leg in the Southeastern Conference finals against the Auburn Tigers, is likely to sit the season and save his eligibility for once his recovery is complete.

“Just talking to him, it would be best for him to know that he doesn’t feel pressured to get back quick, which we didn’t want him to feel anyway,” Golden noted on Friday morning. “So, when we had that conversation, it was great. It provided clarity to him. It gave him comfort.”

The 7-foot-1-inch junior, originally from North Carolina by way of the Marshall Thundering Herd, started 32 of the 33 games he appeared in for the Gators last season. He averaged 5.5 while pulling down 7.1 rebounds per game — the latter the second-best on the team — also swatting 29 blocks and snatching 19 steals in 18.9 minutes of play per game.

The additions of Washington State Cougars transfer center Rueben Chinyelu and Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs forward Sam Alexis are expected to help fill the void left behind by Handlogten.

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Todd Golden updated Micah Handlogten’s injury status on Monday

Gators head coach Todd Golden spoke with the press to update them on his player’s current condition. 

Florida basketball was set back a set during its Southeastern Conference Championship Game against the Auburn Tigers on Sunday when center [autotag]Mich Handlogten[/autotag] went down with a gruesome leg just three minutes into the game.

The sophomore transfer from the Marshall Thundering Herd sustained a fracture that required surgical intervention at the nearby Vanderbilt University hospital. On Monday, Gators head coach Todd Golden spoke with the press to update them on his player’s current condition.

“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.”

As far as Hadlogten’s state of mind — and that of his fellow teammates — Golden took a positive approach.

“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 offered. “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.”

He went on to detail what the 7-footer also has to offer the program off the court.

“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.”

His frontcourt teammate Tyrese Samuel also had some kind words.

“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.”

Florida will open up tournament play against the winner of Wednesday’s Boise State Broncos-Colorado Buffaloes play-in game on Friday, March 22, at 4:30 p.m. ET.

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Florida’s Micah Handlogten talks LSU Tigers on Monday

Here’s what the Gators’ starting center had to say about himself and his team ahead of the LSU game.

Florida basketball returns to action on Tuesday following its huge home win over the Auburn Tigers last Saturday — a Quadrant 1 win that put the Gators firmly back in the NCAA Tournament discussion with a little more than a month remaining before it kicks off.

Todd Golden’s team is coming off a tough triplet of opponents, having beat the Kentucky Wildcats two Wednesdays ago before dropping its game against the Texas A&M Aggies the Saturday following. Both were road games but now the Orange and Blue are back in the comfortable confines of the O’Connell Center to host the LSU Tigers.

Ahead of the next Southeastern Conference battle, starting center Micah Handlogten spoke with the press about his personal progress as well as that of his team.

Three top Gators rehash overtime win over Georgia Bulldogs

Here’s what three of Florida’s top scorers had to say about the overtime win over Georgia.

It was not supposed to be as close as it was, but the Georgia Bulldogs stormed back from a 21-point deficient with 10 minutes remaining but still fell short inside the O’Connell Center on Saturday, 102-98, to the Florida Gators.

The Orange and Blue had five players finishing with double-digit points after 45 minutes of play, led by a monster performance by [autotag]Micah Handlogten[/autotag], who dropped 23 points while grabbing 17 boards in 35 minutes of play. [autotag]Zyon Pullin[/autotag] finished with 20, while [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] and Walter Clayton Jr. both scored 18 points; Alex Condon added 10 of his own.

After the game, Richard, Handlogten and Pullin spoke with the media about Florida’s too-close-for-comfort win over Georgia. Take a look below for what they had to offer.

What Todd Golden, Micah Handlogten had to say after Missouri win

Get a gander at what Golden and Handlogten had to say after Florida’s first true road win.

Saturday night was a big one for the Florida basketball team as it finally got a monkey off its back in the form of its first true road win of the season in a 79-67 triumph over the Missouri Tigers.

The win came courtesy of a balanced effort overall from the Gators, with five players scoring double-digit points — and a sixth with eight — including center Micah Handlogten, who dropped a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds along with an assist, steal and block.

Following the game, head coach Todd Golden along with Handlogten spoke briefly with the media about Saturday night’s win. Take a look below at what they had to offer.

Florida basketball coach Todd Golden previews matchup with Richmond

Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden addressed the media on Wednesday afternoon, previewing Saturday’s matchup with the Richmond Spiders.

The Florida Gators finally broke their losing streak on Tuesday night, running away on the scoreboard and beating the Merrimack Warriors in a double-digit contest, 77-57.

It was a successful return to Exactech Arena, but now the Gators are hitting the road again for a mini-road trip to Sunrise, Florida, to challenge the Richmond Spiders on Saturday night.

Florida head coach Todd Golden addressed the media Wednesday afternoon ahead of the contest and has high expectations for their upcoming opponent, citing a high-scoring Spider offense.

Florida and Richmond haven’t faced off since New Year’s Day of 2015, when the Gators came out victorious over the Spiders, 76-56. Both programs have made significant changes since eight years ago, but both teams are also trying to make a case to enter this season’s March Madness

The Gators found a spark in the second half against Merrimack with forward Alex Condon collecting every rebound that bounced his way and guard Walter Clayton Jr. finding the sweet spot to hit 75% of his 3-point attempts.

The Orange and Blue are looking for the same success on Saturday, but the Gators will look to come out swinging from the opening tip rather than waiting til halftime.

Here’s what Todd Golden had to share on Wednesday afternoon.

Gators could get center Micah Handlogten back against Merrimack

The Florida Gators should get Micah Handlogten back on Tuesday night when Merrimack College comes to town. The sophomore missed three games.

Florida basketball is likely to get center [autotag]Micah Handlogten[/autotag] back Tuesday night against Merrimack College, according to a report from Jacob Rudner of 247Sports.

After missing most of three games with an ankle injury, Handlogten should return to the rotation after shooting around on Tuesday. Just one day ago, Florida head coach Todd Golden said that Handlogten had an “outside chance” to play on Tuesday, but he seemed far more confident about the sophomore’s minutes increasing over the weekend.

If Handlogten does return, it will be Florida’s second game of the year with a complete roster. Guard Zyon Pullin missed the first three games of the season serving a suspension, and then Handlogten went down.

Forward Tyrese Samuel earned SEC Player of the Week honors during Handlogten’s absence. He should see fewer scoring opportunities with Handlogten back on the court, but Florida will be better overall with the big man back in the lineup.

Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh will also play less after seeing an increase in minutes with Handlogten out. Golden noted that their increased playing time was a silver lining of sorts to Handlogten’s absence, but this is the role they are best served in.

“Those are guys that we knew were going to play a lot for us as we got in the season, but I think for them to be the best they can be this year — at least early on in the year — it’s going to be more of a coming off the bench, supplemental 15, 20, 25 minutes depending on the night type game.

“Not necessarily starting these guys and throwing them into the wolves against Baylor and against Wake Forest and seeing what happens. But both those guys are studs, man. Both those freshmen are studs. They’re further along than we anticipated. You want to have a little more maturity, a little more older guys in those games. But if we’re going to have young guys out there, those are the two that we want.”

Florida and Merrimack tip off at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday night.

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Gators add fourth transfer to men’s basketball team

Welcome to the Swamp, Tyrese Samuel! The former Seton Hall big man is headed to the Swamp for fifth and final year of collegiate eligibility.

After adding a pair of transfer players to the roster earlier in the week, the Florida men’s basketball team added former Seton Hall forward to [autotag]Tyrese Samuel[/autotag] on Sunday.

Samuel is a fifth-year player that saw success in 2022-23 after breaking into the starting rotation as a senior. The 6-foot-10-inch, 235-pound big man averaged 11 points and 4.3 rebounds per game last season and should be a key piece of Florida’s frontcourt rotation in 2023-24.

The Gators have also added forward [autotag]EJ Jarvis[/autotag], center [autotag]Micah Handlogten[/autotag] and guard [autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag]., who should all compete for significant minutes if not starting spots on the team.

Samuel might play a similar role to [autotag]Jason Jitoboh[/autotag], providing some size off the bench.Samuel is a strong rebounder, espescially on the offensive glass and he’s also known to force a turnover or two in each game, be it a block or steal.

The recent departure of [autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag] — who declared for the 2023 NBA draft on Monday — could also mean that Samuel plays a starting role on the team. Jarvis and returner [autotag]Alek Szymczyk[/autotag] are the only expreienced forward big enough to play a traditional four. Freshmen [autotag]Alex Condon[/autotag] and [autotag]Thomas Haugh[/autotag] might aslo fit the bill.

Samuel chose Florida over Wake Forest after taking an official visit to the Swamp over the weekend. Associate head coach Carlin Hartman was already familiar with Samuel from his time recruiting for the Oklahoma Sooners, and the two rekindled the relationship during an in-home visit a week before the official trip, according to 247Sports.

The coaching connection helped Samuel land on Florida, and now he’s all in on restoring glory to the Gators name.

“I want to show people how I’m able to play pretty versatile and also I want to win games,” Samuel said. “Winning games is the main thing and making the tournament. Not just making the tournament but making a deep run and trying to get as far as possible.”

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Florida losing forward Alex Fudge to NBA draft

Todd Golden has one more roster spot to fill thorough the transfer portal this offseason now that forward Alex Fudge is going pro.

After just one year with the Florida Gators, forward [autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag] is leaving the college ranks and entering his name into the 2023 NBA draft pool as he pursues a professional career.

Swamp247’s Jacob Rudner first reported the news Thursday night at the tail end of the football team’s Orange and Blue Game, and Fudge’s departure caught plenty of fans off guard. That might not be the case for those who pay close attention to the team’s transfer portal movement, though.

Florida is in the process of replacing all but five members of its scholarship roster from a season ago, and there’s been a heavy focus on frontcourt depth. Todd Golden and Co. have already secured center [autotag]Micah Handlogten[/autotag] and forward [autotag]EJ Jarvis[/autotag] through the portal, but they have continued to schedule official visits with big men that would not have found much playing time with Fudge on the roster.

While it’s unclear whether Golden knew that Fudge was seriously considering leaving or not, he’s been putting together a plan to deal with another lost player from the 2022-23 team.

Fudge started just 11 games for Florida during the middle of the season before going down with a concussion. By the time he got healthy again, Golden had switched to a small ball lineup with [autotag]Riley Kugel[/autotag] and [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] starting at the three and four.

The LSU transfer finished his only year at Florida averaging 5.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 19.4 minutes per game.

Florida has four scholarship spots open now that Fudge is off the roster.

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Florida bringing in Seton Hall transfer forward for official visit

The Gators are still looking to add a few names from the transfer portal, and Seton Hall forward Tyrese Samuel might be a name to watch with an official visit coming up.

The Florida Gators still have three open scholarship spots on the men’s basketball roster, and Todd Golden’s recruiting staff isn’t slowing down their efforts in the transfer portal any time soon.

On Saturday, April 15, UF will host former Seton Hall forward [autotag]Tyrese Samuel[/autotag] on an official visit, according to Jacob Rudner of 247Sports.

Samuel is still deciding between Florida and Wake Forest, so this trip should help him answer whatever questions he has left about the school and program. Associate head coach Carlin Hartman already stopped by Samuel’s house for an in-home visit on Sunday to get him a headstart on what the Gators are all about.

What might attract Samuel to Florida most is the exposure he’ll get playing in the SEC. It’s far easier for players to stand out at a Power Five program, especially one that has produced NBA big men in the past and perhaps near future in [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag].

Florida could use another center after losing Castleton and [autotag]Jason Jitoboh[/autotag], even with the addition of former Marshall 7-foot center [autotag]Micah Handlogten[/autotag]. Samuel will be a fifth-year guy, though, so he may not want to split time as a sixth or seventh man off the bench.

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