Florida coach Billy Donovan has ruled senior forward Chandler Parsons as "50-50" heading into Sunday's matchup at LSU.
Parsons hasn't practiced all week since suffering a deep thigh bruise following a collision with teammate Alex Tyus during last Saturday's win against Tennessee. Donovan said the 6-foot-10 Parsons will travel with the team, but won't start. Parsons, who was on crutches earlier in the week, is now off crutches and has made progress this week in rehabilitation.
"We're not concerned that if he does play that there is going to be any more damage to his leg," Donovan said. "I think because of the internal bleeding in his leg, the first 48 hours were very critical in terms of him staying off it, on crutches, elevation. I think the pain in his leg is subsiding. He's done some workouts in pools. But he hasn't done any running, hasn't done any shooting."
Donovan said Parsons may try some light running and shooting on Friday and Saturday to test his injured thigh. But it appears that Parsons' string of 42 straight starts will end Sunday. Donovan said he's considering either starting freshman forward Casey Prather or going with freshman guard Scottie Wilbekin in a three-guard starting lineup.
But Donovan didn't rule out the possibility of playing Parsons off the bench.
"It would be a situation where we put him in there just to see how he felt," Donovan said. "As a coach, I'm going in there planning that he's not going to be able to play. I know in his mind, he wants to play, thinks he's gonna play. But a lot is going to depend on seven or eight days not doing anything, how he responds."
The bye week has given Parsons a chance to heal. Donovan said that if Florida would have played earlier this week, Parsons wouldn't have been able to suit up.
But Donovan said he does not see a risk in playing Parsons off the bench against an LSU team that has lost nine straight games. After LSU, Florida next plays Thursday at the O'Connell Center against Georgia.
"I think Chandler will fully recover from the injury," Donovan said. "We don't feel like he's been set back. He's feeling better. He's progressing. We fully expect him to be able to be back 100 percent."
Parsons is averaging 10.8 points per game, while ranking fourth in the Southeastern Conference in rebounding (7.7 rpg) and eighth in assists (3.6 apg).
"We would love to have him, but we've been preparing this week without him, as if he's not going to play," Florida junior point guard Erving Walker said. "We don't know if he is or he isn't. He's a key component to our team. But I think we'll be ready even if we have to go without him. We have other guys who can step in and play good minutes."
With Parsons ailing, Wilbekin and Prather will likely get increased minutes. Wilbekin has emerged as a defensive stopper and has the best assist-to-turnover ratio on the team. Prather would provide more size (6-6) at the small forward spot and also is an excellent defender, but has had issues with turnovers (15 in 165 total minutes) during the course of the season. Donovan said he didn't view this week as a competition between Wilbekin and Prather for the starting spot.
"I don't think it's about one of those guys replacing Chandler," Donovan said. "He does too much for our team. He rebounds, makes decisions, makes plays. When you have a player that's out, I think it has to be a collective group of people that have to try to raise their play, because I think our team will change."
Donovan said that starting Prather would keep his team on its normal rotation, whereas starting Wilbekin would force some adjustments. Sophomore Kenny Boynton would see more time at small forward while junior Erving Walker wold log more minutes at shooting guard.
"We're going to be playing more minutes as a team with maybe three guards than we have to this point in time and that's a little bit different," Donovan said.
Parsons wasn't the only Florida player to miss practice time during the course of the week. Patric Young, Mike Rosario, Cody Larson and walk-on Kyle McClanahan all missed practice during the week with strep throat. That forced Donovan to use freshman Will Yeguete at small forward during practice, a position he hasn't played since early November.
"Any time you have a breaking of rhythm during a course of a week, you always are concerned about how your team is going to come out and play when you've had eight days off," Donovan said.
