After sustaining two concussions during the preseason, Casey Prather tasted blood less than a minute into his season debut.
With 3:08 remaining in the first half, Prather took a blow to the jaw as UCF guard Isaiah Sykes drove to the basket. During the collision, one of Prather’s teeth punctured his lower lip. The junior forward exited the game about a minute later and headed to the locker room to have the gash stitched up.
“There was no doubt in my mind, I wanted to keep playing,” Prather said.
Wearing a bandage under his lip to cover the stitches, Prather returned to the game with 14:46 remaining and notched eight points as No. 7 Florida held off UCF for a 79-66 victory on Friday afternoon in the O’Connell Center.
“It’s like one thing after another with this guy,” coach Billy Donovan said. “I feel terrible for him, because if there’s anybody who deserves to be on the floor, it’s him. But I was happy that he was able to come back in, play and perform.”
In 13 minutes against the Knights, Prather was 3-of-3 shooting and made both of his free throws. He also grabbed four boards and recorded a block. During his first play, Prather forced a Knights turnover in the full-court press.
The 6-foot-6 junior’s most dynamic scoring play occurred with 3:36 left in the contest. After receiving a feed from junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin, Prather drove down the base line and finished with a one-handed reverse dunk to put the Gators up by 20.
“That’s what we love him for,” Wilbekin said. “He gets the whole team excited when he does stuff like that.”
Prather was hungry to return on Friday after a pair of concussions disrupted his preseason. He suffered his first during a scrimmage against Rollins College on Oct. 27. His second head injury occurred when junior center Patric Young elbowed him during a rebound attempt in practice on Nov. 5.
“The second one just frustrated me even more,” Prather said. “The season was just around the corner when it happened, so I was pretty upset. … My teammates and my coaches, they kind of helped me go through it. They were just like, ‘Be patient. It’s better it happen now than later in the middle of the season.’”
Prather struggled to avoid turnovers and averaged only two points in 9.5 minutes per game last season, but he excelled in the postseason. The forward broke out against Virginia in the second round of NCAA Tournament on March 16, scoring 14 points and grabbing four rebounds in the Gators’ 71-45 victory against the Cavaliers.
With Prather’s return and Wilbekin back from a three-game suspension, Donovan has a deeper rotation and more energy off the bench.
“[Prather] provides intensity,” senior guard Kenny Boynton said. “His athleticism fuels our team. We’re definitely happy to have him back.”
Florida forward Casey Prather (24) defends North Florida guard Parker Smith on Nov. 17, 2011, in the O’Connell Center. After missing the first five games of 2012-13 due to multiple concussions suffered in the preseason, Prather cut his lip in his return to the court.
