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Florida gets their three banged up players back to practice

Erik Murphy, Will Yeguete, Reginald Buckner

Florida forward Will Yeguete (15) gets past Mississippi forward Reginald Buckner (23) for a basket as as teammate Erik Murphy (33) watches during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Gainesville, Fla., Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. Florida won 78-64. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)

AP

Florida got some great news on Thursday: everyone’s healthy and cleared to practice!

Will Yeguete, who missed the last six games with a knee injury he suffered in Florida’s loss at Arkansas, had surgery to remove bits of cartilage floating in his knee. The 6-foot-7 forward is an invaluable piece to Florida’s defense, a versatile glue-guy that hits the glass and plays the point in Florida’s press.

Michael Frazier, who is Florida’s best three-point shooter and the SEC’s leader from beyond the arc in conference games, suffered a concussion last Saturday, which forced him to miss Tuesday’s loss at Tennessee.

Perhaps the scariest incident was Casey Prather’s. The athletic, 6-foot-6 swingman has dealt with all kinds of injuries this season, including a sprained ankle that cost him five SEC games and a pair of concussions that held him out of the first five games of the season. On Tuesday, he went face first into Mike Rosario’s shoulder, which opened up a faucet above his left eye and was yet another blow to the head, never a good thing for a kid dealing with concussion problems.

But they all appear as if they’re now good to go.

They’re cleared for full-contact practice and, hopefully, will be on the floor on Saturday when Florida takes on Alabama at home.

That’s important for the Gators seeing as, in the past couple of weeks, concerns have popped up about this team. But those concerns were the result of a roster that was not complete; the Gators were simply punishing teams when healthy.

Can they get back to that level?

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.