Gators wide receiver Eugene Wilson III will miss the remainder of the season due to a high ankle sprain, head coach Billy Gonzales announced Monday. The redshirt sophomore will undergo tight-rope surgery on Wednesday following his injury against Georgia Nov. 1. The surgery is used to repair torn ligaments and stabilize severe high ankle sprains.
“Tough son of a gun,” Gonzales said. “He’s going to have a tight-rope procedure to give him the best opportunity to get back for himself coming off and to get ready for spring ball.”
Wilson played in Florida’s first eight games of the season and recorded just 118 yards and two touchdowns until his breakout performance against Georgia. Against the Bulldogs, Wilson had nine catches for 121 yards and a touchdown.
“He got hurt during the Georgia game and pushed through it, came back in the second half and just battled,” Gonzales said. “Talking to the training staff, they said ‘I’ve not seen a lot of people be able to do what he did.”
Wilson will finish his season with 27 catches, 239 yards and three touchdowns. He still has failed to meet the production levels he produced during his freshman year, where he totaled 266 receiving yards and one touchdown on 19 receptions.
Wilson looked primed for a productive sophomore year but was forced to redshirt after playing just four games following a season-ending hip surgery.
A plethora of injuries in the wide receiver room brought him majorly to the forefront against Georgia, and while he appeared to provide hope amid Florida’s crippling health and season struggles, that too fizzled out with his injury.
With freshman receiver Dallas Wilson also out for the rest of the season and freshman receiver Vernell Brown III currently sidelined with a shoulder injury, this is another significant blow for the already struggling Gators.
Contact Ava DiCecca at adicecca@alligator.org. Follow her on X @avadicecca24.
Ava DiCecca is a third-year sports and media journalism student and is the Summer 2026 assistant sports editor. Now in her fourth semester at The Alligator, she previously served as sports editor, the Gators volleyball beat reporter and an enterprise writer. In her free time she watches Boston sports (Brad Marchand we still love you).
