The college basketball season is less than two weeks old and Florida is already dealing with a significant injury that could sideline starting center Vernon Macklin for as long as a month.
Macklin is dealing with tendinitis and bone spurs in his right knee and UF coach Billy Donovan said Monday that he's considering sitting Macklin after today's game against Florida Atlantic to give the injury time to heal.
"I think going forward we'll probably make a decision of what we need to do," Donovan said. "I haven't
talked to him about that yet. It may be longer than [a week] if we did it. I don't think it would be a month, but if we're going to rest him it wouldn't be just a couple of days. That's not really going to cure the problem."
Donovan said Macklin doesn't need surgery now but could opt for a clean-up procedure once the season has finished, although Donovan added that there's no guarantee surgery would result in any drastic improvement.
The 6-foot-10, 240-pound redshirt senior is averaging 9.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.
Donovan said freshman Patric Young (6-9, 245), a former Providence standout, or Erik Murphy (6-10, 229) would likely start in Macklin's place.
