Micah Handlogten will join Florida basketball at March Madness after broken leg at SEC final

Florida basketball sophomore center Micah Handlogten was within a game of appearing in the first NCAA Tournament of his career.

But a gruesome leg injury early in UF's SEC championship game against Auburn on Sunday derailed those plans.

The 7-foot-1 Handlogten suffered a compound fracture of his lower left leg and underwent successful surgery Sunday night at Vanderbilt University to repair the injury.

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This weekend, Handlogten will be there to support his teammates. Florida coach Todd Golden confirmed Tuesday that Handlogten will make the trip to Indianapolis for the NCAA Tournament opener for the Florida Gators. The 7-seed Gators will face the winner of the 10-seed First Four matchup between Colorado and Boise State on Friday afternoon (4:25 p.m., TBS) at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Handlogten's parents, Danielle and Ben, will drive him up from Nashville for the game.

"I'm really grateful for our administration and the way they've supported Micah and his family," Golden said. "To come up with that idea, that plan, he was originally supposed to fly back here (Monday) but that would have prevented him from behind at our game and now he's staying there, recovering, he'll drive up to Indianapolis, meet us and the team.

"I think it will be a huge lift for him and kind of getting him, getting his spirits back. He's honestly in great spirits, way better spirits than I would be in, to be honest. But it's going to be a huge lift for the team, also."

He's one of UF's most popular players. Will Richard said the Florida team FaceTimed Handlogten on Sunday after his surgery.

"It's going to be special," Richard said. "Just seeing what he went through, it's definitely going to be a big impact on us. We're going to go out there and play for him."