Denzel Aberdeen (Vicky Graff Photo)
Denzel Aberdeen was a huge part of Florida’s 2025 national championship team that also won the Southeastern Conference Tournament title.
He averaged 7.7 points per game in 39 appearances with five starts where he averaged 14.4 points per game and shot 41 percent from 3-point range. He had 10 games with double-figure scoring and had back-to-back 20-point games against Mississippi State and South Carolina.
Most thought Aberdeen would be a key piece for Florida this season as coach Todd Golden went for another national title. Instead, he transferred to Kentucky to play for coach Mark Pope.
Golden was asked about Aberdeen’s transfer at the SEC Media Days in Birmingham Wednesday.
Question: Denzel was pretty transparent about the breakup between you and him. What kind of led to him deciding to open up his future plans? What is Kentucky getting?
TODD GOLDEN: “You said he was transparent, so I’d like to hear what he said to you.”
Question: He said there was a meeting, the meeting he went in expecting to return to Florida, then by the time the meeting ended he said it probably wasn’t going to be.
TODD GOLDEN: “Because? You said he’s transparent. You’re asking.”
Question: I guess just at that meeting was where the line was drawn in the sand, and that was kind of that.
TODD GOLDEN: “We love Denzel. Incredibly grateful for the contributions that he made to our program. He’s a huge part of our national championship team.
“He was a guy that came with us right when we got the job. The reality is we would have loved to have Denzel back. There were other things that were more important to him than what we had to offer at this point.
“That’s the opportunity and the right that every student-athlete has, to be able to dictate and determine what’s important to them. He had played well enough to put him in a position where he was desired by a lot of programs.
“Every person, whether it be a coach or a player, have different things that are important to them when making decisions. Unfortunately it didn’t align. We would have loved to have him back. I think he’s going to have a really good year for Mark. I think he’s a great kid, comes from a really good family. I expect him to help them become really successful this year.”
3 Responses
Didn't Golden do the same thing when he left his former school to become HC at Florida? He saw more money and better opportunities so he took it. Aberdeen did the same thing and now Golden doesn't seem to like it very much.
It will be interesting to see how the lineup shapes up. We are 3 deep at the 1, 2, and 3 spots. There will be one starter at each position, one backup, and one in reserve in case someone gets hurt. NOBODY wants to be the injury insurance guy. I see Lowe, Oweh, and Dioubate as starters at these spots. There will be a real battle between Chandler and Aberdeen for the backup point position and less of a battle between Noah and Johnson for the backup 2 spot. Williams is the backup for the 3 spot.
That is why the high school senior guards/wings have not signed with Kentucky for 2026. They see the logjam that is here now and don't see any chance for a freshman starter in 2026 at these positions. We will need plenty of help at the 4 and 5 spots. Moreno and Potter are the only guys I see coming back for 2026. Next year could see a freshman starting at the 4 spot and a second freshman getting major minutes there. Moreno will have the 5 spot nailed down next year, but there will be significant PT for a freshman backup…this all assumes that Pope doesn't get some seasoned bigs from the portal.
I would rather have seasoned players from the portal. The high school hotshots are thinking OAD, play bad defense, and want to shoot all of the time and have yet to prove they can excel in the college game. The portal kids already have those boxes checked. After this season, coaches will be screaming for portal changes or else Kentucky will be making a UCLA like run of titles for years to come.
I recently commented the Williams would only play if he had the hot hand. I saw a film of him playing defense last year at Tulane. He's a really good defender and should play a lot as the backup 3.