Florida WR Andre Debose to have season-ending hamstring surgery

Florida’s Debose to have season-ending surgery

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Top-ranked Florida will have to wait a year to see highly touted freshman Andre Debose on the field.

Debose, coach Urban Meyer’s prized recruit in February, will have season-ending surgery to repair a torn hamstring. Meyer announced Debose’s decision after practice Tuesday night.

Meyer had tabbed the 5-foot-11, 185-pound speedster as Percy Harvin’s replacement this fall. But Debose injured his hamstring at the Florida state high school track meet in April, tweaked it during summer workouts and then hurt it again on the first day of fall practice.

Team doctors initially thought it was just a pulled muscle, but tests later revealed a partial tear. Debose has been considering his options the last two weeks.