Shoring up the frontcourt has been one of Florida’s priorities in the transfer portal and while they have already landed a post player in EJ Jarvis–they’d likely prefer he plays a little more at power forward than center.
To fill the center spot the Gators are looking at one of the most interesting centers in the portal–Micah Handlogten. Handlogten is originally from Huntersville, North Carolina, and just finished his freshman season at Marshall. Coming out of high school Handlogten when under-recruited–likely a result of COVID recruiting, the extra year of eligibility, and the early days of the transfer portal getting in the way of him getting the proper looks he deserved. Ultimately he chose Marshall over a host of other mid-major programs, essentially with no high-major looks.
It’s hard to believe Handlogten was overlooked because he stands at 7’1” and weighs 225 pounds. While it might be hard to imagine a 7’1” big man falling through the cracks, it just may have happened with Handlogten.
Coming to Marshall, Handlogten was immediately impactful starting every single game for the Thundering Herd, ultimately averaging 7.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game. While the point total isn’t going to catch your eye–the rebounding and shot blocking certainly will. When you look at the advanced numbers, the rebounding and shot blocking looks even more incredible. Handlogten was 27th in the country in both defensive rebounding rate and block rate, two numbers that are going to catch the eye of Florida’s coaching staff. They were one of the first programs to contact him once he entered the portal which appears to have given them an edge in his recruitment. Florida struggled greatly on the defensive glass last season and are looking to drastically improve their abilities in that area, and grabbing one of the most impactful defensive rebounders in the portal would be an excellent step towards that goal.
What makes Handlogten such a tantalizing target is the fact that he could be projected to play at the high-major level next year with his size and production that he has already shown, but he’s far from a finished product. Handlogten will have three years to play at his next school, and with the way big men have been sticking around college basketball this year it’s entirely likely he could play out each of those years. That means three years of production at the center position from a 7’1” anchor, which could provide some rare continuity in an age of rampant roster turnover.
The Thundering Herd quietly put together a fantastic campaign in 2022-23, unfortunately spoiled by the fact that they were upset in the opening round of the Sun Belt tournament. They were 83rd in KenPom, not all that far behind the Gators (74th) and Handlogten played a key role in that quality season. Unfortunately from an evaluation standpoint, the Thundering Herd didn’t play any high-major opponents last season–meaning that when Handlogten sees a high-major team next season it will be his first time. Marshall played a bit of a novelty style of basketball–playing the fastest tempo in the entire country, which also allowed Handlogten to develop excellent stamina as he was constantly running from one rim to the other.
Perhaps the biggest strength of Handlogten is that he takes pride in doing dirty work on the floor. He is extremely content to play great defense, block shots, and rebound–and he doesn’t hunt for his offense when he gets the ball. He’s someone who wouldn’t come to the high-major level to try and prove he can score a bunch and lead a team–he’s going to prove that he can compete physically and play a role that might one day get him an NBA contract.
In terms of negatives, it starts with the fact that at this moment Handlogten isn’t an offensive threat outside of put backs on offensive rebounds and dunking drop off passes. His post up efficiency isn’t great, and he doesn’t have a jumper. His free throw stroke also needs a lot of work as he shot 53% from the line last season. Of course, it’s important to note that he was a freshman–and improvement in all areas should be expected with multiple years left to play in college.
Handlogten has already announced his top eight schools which consist of Florida, NC State, Georgia, Auburn, Indiana, Missouri, Virginia, and Arkansas. The Gators are considered to be in a good position here, something backed up by the fact that he’ll get one of Handlogten’s first visits. From April 6-8 he’ll be in Gainesville, with no other visits planned at this moment. He will be going on other visits, though the fact he announced his final eight schools with only one visit planned could speak positively towards Florida’s chances.