TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – At 7-foot-1 and a lean 230 pounds, Micah Handlogten at times got pushed around as a sophomore at Florida last year, his first season with the Gators after transferring into the Southeastern Conference via Marshall of the Sun Belt Conference. That’s not to say Handlogten was not an effective low-post player. On the contrary, he was one of the best rebounders in the nation, especially on the offensive end. 
 

But against the most physical teams in the league (the Texas A&M’s, Tennessee’s, South Carolina’s), Handlogten sometimes struggled holding his ground. Or “guarding his yard,” as they say.
 
That was 25 or 30 pounds ago.
 
The Micah Handlogten, circa 2025, is a thicker, stronger version at 255 pounds – take a bow, UF strength/conditioning coordinator Victor Lopez – after using his time on the sidelines to do a physical makeover. The fact that his new-look frame debuted in ’25 was not part of the big-picture Florida plan, but what he’s brought to the fifth-ranked Gators (25-4, 12-4) has been a late-season god-send thus far and will be very much needed Wednesday night when facing seventh-ranked Alabama (23-6, 12-4) in a SEC game with significant postseason ramifications at sold-out Coleman Coliseum. 
 
[Read senior writer Chris Harry‘s “Pregame Stuff” setup here]
 
“He’s been elite,” fifth-year guard Alijah Martin said. “And his timing coming back? Perfect.”

Take Saturday night. Handlogten, in just his fifth game since opting to forgo a medical redshirt season, was matched up in the post against A&M’s 6-8, 250-pound Henry Coleman III. In two games against the Aggies last year – in trading blows with Coleman, as well as fellow low-post mavens Soloman Washington and Andersson Garcia – Handlogten combined for three points and six rebounds over 27 minutes. 
 
This time, however, Handlogten had a five-pound advantage on Coleman, 25 on Andersson and 30 on Washington.
 
In the second half, Coleman took an entry pass on the block and it was Handlogten who initiated the contact; Handlogten who put his chest into the Aggies’ big; Handlogten who delivered an aggressive arm bar to Coleman’s back; and who did it all with an air of self-confidence. 
 
“It’s good just to come back against that same team, which has a lot of the same players, and actually hold my ground a little bit more,” Handlogten said. 
 
He did more than that. Handlogten helped change the game. In 19 minutes off the bench, Handlogten only scored two points, but grabbed eight rebounds, half on the offensive end, blocked two shots, got two assists, a couple steals and did not turn the ball over in UF’s 89-70 victory. His box-score line was a plus-19 – again, in only 19 minutes – which was second-highest in the game.
 
“He’s such a luxury to have back and showed just how much of a winning player someone can be without scoring a lot,” UF coach Todd Golden said. “His ability to get his hands on balls on the offensive glass and keep plays alive and create second chances for us … I’m thrilled for us that he’s back, but also really happy for him that he’s able to go out there and have some really good success and be able to be a part of it with his teammates.”

Gator Nation saw Handlogten suffer the broken leg in the opening minutes of the SEC Tournament championship game last March 17 and the emotional toll it took on the team. Not just that day, but the ensuing days leading up to the Gators’ first-round NCAA Tournament loss later that week. 
 
What Gator Nation did not see was the work Handlogten put in to get himself back – for the ’25-26 season, or so everybody thought – and the teammate he was in support of UF players and coaches during practice. Some of the latter was on display during games, with Handlogten leading cheers and chants on the bench. 

But then came the ankle injuries Feb. 11 to starting forward Alex Condon and backup Sam Alexis at Mississippi State and the soul-searching that followed. Handlogten knew he could help the team – a potentially extraordinary team – and made the selfless decision to bypass the planned medical-redshirt season three-quarters of the way through the schedule. 
 
Five games in, Handlogten is looking more comfortable and confident each time he takes the floor. 
 
“Just getting my legs back under me, getting my confidence back, getting back to what I did last year is good for confidence and consistency,” he said. “My dad always taught me confidence builds consistency, so just having that mindset going in, just continuing to get more and more confident in myself and allow my teammates to get more confident in me, it’s going to grow my game more and more.”

Handlogten spent a lot of offseason time (and game days, once the season started) growing alongside Lopez, the outstanding strength coach who came with Golden from the University of San Francisco three years ago. Lopez trained the junior “big” with various methods – rotating max sets, explosive sets and high-repetition sets in one-to three-week intervals  – and got results to the tune of 31 pounds of girth to Handlogten’s frame. 

“He looks a lot bigger out there, I can tell you that,” Golden said. “[His] first game, South Carolina, I remember watching him in a free-throw block-out and was like, ‘This guy looks wide,’ compared to last year. I know he feels it, too.”

 

So have his teammates – “He puts up so much more resistance than last year,” Condon said. – which means opponents are feeling it, too.

Alabama will need to feel it Wednesday in a game that could decide the No. 2 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament and possibly a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament the week after that. The Crimson Tide boast the No. 3 offense in the country and try to score almost exclusively with shots at the rim and the 3-point line. Last year, the Gators gave up a staggering 21 offensive rebounds in an overtime road loss at Bama, but cut those numbers to 15 and nine, respectively, in beating the Tide at Gainesville and in the SEC Tournament. 
 
Two of Bama’s bigs, 6-11, 230-pound Grant Nelson and 6-11, 215-pound Jarin Stevenson, were around last year for their three meetings with the Gators on the way to the first Final Four in program history. This time, they’ll be dealing with a different, thicker Handlogten, who’s averaged 8.5 rebounds over just 16 minutes the last two games.
 
The competition, though, is about to go next level. So are the stakes. 
 
But that’s why Handlogten came back. 
 
“We have a special team this year. … I think we really have a shot to go all the way and I got excited about that and I think that played a huge role in [returning] because I want to be out there with my boys,” Handlogten said. “They were with me through thick and thin throughout my recovery process. There were hardships, but they helped me through and I see this as a way to help get them to where we want to be.”
 
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu