A familiar face is heading back to Gainesville, as former national champion Denzel Aberdeen announced his commitment to return to Florida.
Aberdeen, who transferred to Kentucky following the 2024-25 national championship run, announced on April 10 his decision to return to the Gators for the 2026-27 season, pending approval of an eligibility waiver. He played just 41 minutes as a freshman.
Last season, Aberdeen was one of Kentucky’s go-to scoring options, finishing the season with 13.5 points per game on 43.3% shooting from the field. His third and last 20-point scoring outing came in the second round of the NCAA tournament, where the senior guard logged 20 points, despite Kentucky falling short to No. 2 Iowa State on March 22.
Aberdeen and the Wildcats fell short in all three matchups against the Gators throughout the 2025-26 season, including a 71-63 Florida win in the quarterfinal of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
Before joining the Wildcats, Aberdeen played a crucial role off the bench for Florida en route to the program’s third national championship.
The Orlando, Florida, native was Golden’s first pick off the bench to relieve last year's starting backcourt trio of Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard. He finished the season averaging 7.7 points and 1.7 rebounds a contest, missing just one of the 40 games last year.
Aberdeen was given his chance to shine with five starts when Clayton and Martin were injured.
In his five games as a starter, the 6-foot-5 guard averaged 14.4 points per game on 12-for-29 (41%) shooting from beyond the arc. During this span, Aberdeen had back-to-back 20-plus point efforts against then-No. 22 Mississippi State and South Carolina.
While his production was limited after he returned to the bench, Aberdeen still provided valuable efforts to Florida’s run.
Against Maryland in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on March 27, he recorded 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 19 minutes. Then, in Florida’s national championship duel against Houston on April 7, Aberdeen drilled a free throw with 19 seconds left, giving the Gators a 65-63 advantage, which was the final score of the contest.
The game seemed to be his last as a Gator after he announced his decision to transfer from Florida to Kentucky after three seasons with the Gators on April 22.
“These past three years at the University of Florida have been nothing short of amazing,” Aberdeen said in a statement posted to his social media pages. “I'm truly grateful to have worn the orange and blue and to represent Gator Nation with pride.”
Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68 reported that Aberdeen requested a $1.5 million name, image and likeness deal, which the Gators declined. As a result, he moved to Lexington, Kentucky, where he reportedly agreed to an NIL deal worth up to $2 million.
“We would have loved to have Denzel back,” Golden said at SEC Media Day on Oct. 15. “There were other things that were more important to him than what we had to offer.”
A year later, Aberdeen returns to Florida, looking to lead the Gators' backcourt alongside rising junior guard Boogie Fland.
Contact Jeffrey Serber at Jserber@alligator.org. Follow him on X @JeffreySerber.
Jeffrey is the spring 2026 men's basketball beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major with a media, management and production minor. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and family, and rooting for the Miami sports teams
