After a ghastly fall, Micah Handlogten plans to rise again for Florida basketball | Whitley

As perhaps the world’s tallest lacrosse player, Micah Handlogten always stood out in high school. He was bound to get noticed around his hometown of Huntersville, N.C.

But when the 7-foot-1 alumnus dropped by SouthLake Christian Academy earlier this week, Handlogten sensed his celebrity status had cranked up a couple of notches.

“It’s not exactly the reason you want to be a big man around town,” he said, “but it kind of comes with the territory with having a gruesome injury live on television.”

Florida’s big man crashed to Earth six weeks ago in the championship game of the SEC basketball tournament in Nashville. Viewers either averted their eyes or stared in horror as Handlogten jumped and came down awkwardly. His leg snapped like a piece of raw spaghetti.

“I looked down and it was just kind of dangling,” he said. “I was like, ‘Well, crap.’”

Before he knew it, he was in surgery to repair the compound fracture. Handlogten’s life has been a whirlwind of adjustments since.

A major one came last week with the news he won’t even try to play next season for the Gators. Doctors said the earliest he could start playing would be December or January, so why rush it?

The plan is to redshirt, rehab, hit the weights, work on his game and turn a ghastly negative into long-term blessing.

“My hope now, obviously not next year, but the year after he should be an absolute monster,” Todd Golden said, “as he comes back fully healthy with a lot of confidence in the leg.”

Micah the Monster?

Recruiters would have chuckled at the thought not long ago. But Handlogten showed unexpected upside on the court, and the injury has revealed his resiliency off it.

His lower leg is still slightly swollen, but Handlogten can put weight on it and gingerly walk around. With the heavy wrapping off, he can look down at a Grade-A battle scar that zippers up his shin.

“It’s pretty cool,” Handlogten said. “It’s even in the shape of a lightning bolt.”

He appreciates the symbolism. A lightning bolt connotes sudden change, and he’s certainly had that.

It also conveys power. Handlogten professes to get his from above.

“I pray about my leg every night,” he said. “I think staying true to my faith has allowed me to keep a positive attitude and just keep progressing forward.”

God can indeed move in mysterious ways.

It was just two years ago that Handlogten was running around the lacrosse field at SouthLake, a small, private school he attended from grades one through 12. It must have been quite a sight. A 7-footer’s wingspan wielding a six-foot stick. How did opponents ever get a ball past him?

“I loved playing lacrosse,” Handlogten said.

But he knew his athletic future was basketball. His father, Ben, played professionally overseas and had brief NBA stints.

Recruiters viewed Micah as a project. More height than skill. The only schools that offered him a scholarship were Jacksonville, Youngstown State, American University, Presbyterian College and Marshall.

“I guess you could say I just used it as fuel, just because it was always my dream to play high-major Division 1 basketball,” Handlogten said.

He went to Marshall and was named Sunbelt Conference freshman of the year. That got Golden’s attention. Florida swooped into the transfer portal and convinced Handlogten that his future was in Gainesville.

He averaged 5.5 points and 7.1 rebounds. Decent enough, but plenty of room for improvement.

“I think I could have played better, honestly,” Handlogten said. “I think a lot of it was just mental.”

Now it’ll be both mental and physical. The physical therapy is pretty limited right now as the wound heals. Handlogten hopes to be running in a couple of months, which is when the real rehab grind begins.

A lot of people at least saw replays of his injury and couldn’t help getting emotional. SEC players and coaches sent well-wishes. Handlogten’s lost track of all the supportive messages from fans.

NBA All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns was among the NBA players who’ve reached out to him.

“You’ll be fine,” Towns told him. “If you ever need anything, just know we’ve got your back.”

Handlogten is grateful for all support, though it feels sort of weird.

“I’m just a kid from North Carolina,” he said. “I don’t think I deserve any of that.”

Of course, he didn’t deserve what happened in the SEC championship game. But things sometimes move in mysterious ways.

“I can’t really change anything now,” Handlogten said. “So I can look at it as a way to grow.”

And if all goes as hoped, he’ll grow into an absolute monster.

David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun's sports columnist. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on X @DavidEWhitley

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Micah Handlogten plans to rise again for Florida's basketball team