Micah Handlogten hasn’t watched the play, and he’s not going to.
“I have no desire to, if you will,” the 7-foot-1 junior big man says while sitting in the Florida Gators’ locker room. “I don’t want to see myself go through that again. I don’t want to put that in my head. I’m just trying to look past it, move forward and keep going.”
The play that changed his life took place just over a year ago. Just over two minutes into the SEC Tournament championship game against Auburn, a teammate missed a layup. As the ball rolled off the front of the rim, Handlogten curled around a pair of opposing bigs and jumped to get the rebound.
Bodies jostled, as they do in the SEC paint, but there was no contact worthy of a whistle. He landed, with the ball, and his left leg buckled gruesomely. He went down in a heap with a compound fracture. The bone punctured the skin, coating the floor with his blood.
He was taken off on a stretcher and had surgery the same day.
“I’d say just the beginning was the darkest moment, honestly,” he said. “I mean, from the beginning on, I kind of always tried to have a really good mentality about it. Try to take steps forward, not look back, try not to like look back at my past or like get down to myself. Just try not to go too fast, take it day by day, try to keep everything on the bright side. Just keep going.”
That took him to October. As the Gators were ready to start practice for this season, Handlogten was still working through his rehab and recovery, and the plan was to sit out this season with a medical redshirt. He had accepted that his “new role” for the year was going to be as the team’s “number one supporter.”
By December, he was running and jumping. By January, he was cleared to participate in basketball activities. However, as recently as the end of January, Florida coach Todd Golden still declared that the plan was to have Handlogten sit out the season, “probably.”
That was six days after Handlogten now admits he strongly considered coming back for a game against Georgia. He ended up having second thoughts.
Then, in mid-February, the Gators, who had risen to No. 3 in the AP poll, was down two forwards—leading rebounder Alex Condon and back-up Sam Alexis, both of whom went down with ankle injuries and were expected to miss time.
That’s when Handlogten decided to give up a year of eligibility for what he hopes will be a good month and a half.
“I’m back,” he declared on Valentine’s Day and returned to the Gators’ lineup the next night.
“Micah is one of the most unselfish guys I’ve ever been around,” said Golden. “He’s always worried about the team and the program, and I think he saw another opportunity where he could really help and become a physical part of this as we move forward.”
Now, the Huntersville native and Southlake Christian Academy alum is contributing 5.4 rebounds a night for the top-seeded Gators. Florida won the SEC Tournament last week and now hope to get to San Antonio for the Final Four.
“I’m truly blessed to be able to come back this year and actually play on a team of this caliber,” he said. “I love the guys, and we all love each other. We all play for each other.”
Still, it is a huge sacrifice for Handlogten to make. After missing the end of last season, he also gave up a large chunk of this year.
“He missed out on playing in the [NCAA] Tournament last year,” Golden said. “He was tracking on missing out with what this season was going to be. He deserves more than that. He was a big part of getting our program where it is today and I think he’ll continue to help us get even better the rest of the year. It’s a huge lift from us.”
So, Handlogten finds himself in his home state, playing in the old stomping grounds of his old high school coach—NC State legend Rodney Monroe.
“It’s amazing. When I saw we were going to be playing in Raleigh, I got really excited. I haven’ heard from Coach Monroe yet, but I’m sure I will. It’s really cool to be able to come to NC State’s arena, because I’ve had family—my sister went to school here. There’s so many people from high school here. Just to be able to be around all those people is really cool.”
The chance to play in front of friends and family, with so much on the line, makes the tough decision worth it.
“My team needed me,” he said. “And I was feeling great at the time. This is my time—If I want to do it, do it now.”
