How Florida basketball could look with and without Denzel Aberdeen

As Florida begins its preparations for the 2026-27 season, one question remains: Will the Gators have Denzel Aberdeen?

The guard transferred to Kentucky following Florida’s 2024-25 national championship run, but announced his intention to return to the Gators for the 2026-27 season on April 10.

However, having played his senior season with Kentucky, the Orlando native requested a waiver for a fifth year after playing just 41 minutes as a freshman. He also announced his plans to finish his undergraduate degree at Florida in an Instagram post.

Florida head coach Todd Golden told On3’s Joe Tipton that the Gators wanted to wait until the NCAA approved its new age-based eligibility model, 5-in-5, before moving forward with the legal process for Aberdeen.

“He has, in our opinion, a much better case than these guys that just finished their fourth year playing because Denzel didn’t really play as a freshman,” Golden told Tipton on Friday. “That’s the biggest difference.”

Although the Gators believe Aberdeen should have no issues with getting his waiver approved, here’s what UF would look like with and without its projected starting shooting guard:

With Aberdeen

If Aberdeen is granted a return to Gainesville, UF will not only cement itself as the favorite to win the 2027 national championship, but its backcourt and starting five will also be one of the most experienced in college basketball.

Aberdeen brings great offense to a Florida backcourt that lacked consistency last season between Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee.

Last season with Kentucky, Aberdeen averaged 13.5 points per game on 43.3% shooting from the field and 36.3% from beyond the arc. Perimeter shooting is an area where the Gators struggled, finishing the season 31.2% from 3-point range, which was second-worst in the Southeastern Conference. The former Wildcat recorded double-digit points in 12 of his last 13 games of the season, providing consistent support behind guard Otega Oweh, who was named to the All-SEC second team.

“He’s a very good offensive player,” Golden said April 22. “He did a great job for Kentucky. They obviously dealt with a lot of injuries and some inconsistency with their lineups, but he was always very consistent, and he delivered for them every night.”

Aberdeen is a facilitator on offense, as he led Kentucky with 3.4 assists per game last season. With the advantage Florida’s frontcourt has in the paint, Aberdeen will have more opportunities to get his assist numbers up.

Moreover, with Aberdeen’s scoring, he will ease the pressure off Fland, who is expected to be UF’s starting point guard for the second consecutive season. 

Despite facing offensive struggles, Fland finished the season averaging 11.6 points per game on 44.7% shooting from the field. The Bronx, New York, native found much more success from beyond the arc to end the season, but with Aberdeen by his side, Fland will not have to rely on taking a high volume of threes.

Additionally, Aberdeen brings defensive prowess that will complement the rest of Florida’s starting lineup. 

Despite averaging just 0.7 steals per game, Aberdeen's size at 6-foot-5, 195 pounds makes him a larger force for guards to get a shot off against. Pairing his size with Fland, who led the Gators with 1.7 steals per game last season, and reigning Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Rueben Chinyelu, the Gators' defense can position itself to be among the best in the nation.

Last season, UF led the SEC in defensive field goal percentage (40.7%) and was second in points allowed per game (71.5).

Finally, with Aberdeen, Florida becomes one of the deeper teams in the nation. With Golden sticking to an eight-man rotation, there will be great competition for who gets time on the court.

With Aberdeen as the starting shooting guard, Urban Klavžar will continue to be at the forefront of Florida's bench.

The reigning SEC Sixth Man of the Year will have the opportunity to serve the same role, coming off a 2025-26 season in which he averaged 9.6 points per game and a team-high 40.6% shooting from 3-point range. Moreover, Isaiah Brown and CJ Ingram, who were in and out of Florida’s rotation, can build off their experience from last year and round out the Gators’ reserves. 

However, with Aberdeen, redshirt senior AJ Brown, who transferred from Ohio following the 2024-25 season, may not have the time on the court he expected when he took his medical redshirt after suffering a shoulder injury that kept him sidelined for much of Florida’s offseason camp. During the 2024-25 season, Brown averaged 13.2 points per game, going 38.8% from beyond the arc.

Finally, Alex Lloyd, who averaged 4.8 minutes across his 17 appearances last season, would likely struggle for minutes in his sophomore season with Aberdeen policing the backcourt.

Without Aberdeen

If Aberdeen is not granted a fifth year from the NCAA, Florida may lose out on the potential to have a strong defensive backcourt to match its frontcourt. Moreover, the Gators will have to ask more of their expected bench players to demonstrate the team’s depth.

First, Klavžar would most likely move from sixth man to starting shooting guard. And while his perimeter threat could complement Florida’s frontcourt, Klavžar, who stands at 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, could be a point of attack for the opposition. This idea is similar to what many thought would happen with Lee, who was Florida’s starting shooting guard last season at 6-foot-3, 177 pounds.

However, given Florida’s stats last season, there’s a chance that the Gators defense could still be a force to reckon with.

Moreover, without Aberdeen, Fland would have to carry more of the load when it comes to ball-handling, as Klavžar's size makes him more of an off-the-ball and catch-and-shoot scoring option.

With Klavžar then transitioning to a starting role, the Gators would need to find their spark off the bench.

Isaiah Brown, who is coming off his sophomore season, in which he averaged 5.5 points per game on 47.4% shooting from the field, is the most likely candidate to take on that role. Going 34.6% from beyond the arc last season, Brown complements his perimeter shooting with his ability to finish at the rim. Last season, he recorded all four of his career double-digit scoring efforts, including a 14-point outing against Vanderbilt on Jan. 17.

Aside from scoring, Brown also brings a similar defensive prowess as Fland, allowing the Gators to maintain that defensive intensity throughout all 40 minutes of a game.

"Being a consistent defender has been my main priority right now,” Brown said on Jan. 6. “Being able to guard on the perimeter and also take a little bit of the hits down low from the bigs."

Behind Brown, Ingram would most likely be Florida’s seventh man.

A No. 21 recruit in ESPN’s 2025 Rankings, Ingram finished the season seeing the court primarily in the last few minutes of lopsided contests. Still, he was given his chance on Florida’s Senior Day against Mississippi State on March 3.

With Thomas Haugh ruled out ahead of that game, Ingram moved up to Florida’s third option off the bench, and in his 13 minutes of action, he showcased his potential. The forward recorded his career-high 8 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers, cutting UF’s deficit to one with 8:35 left in the first half and spurring a 9-0 run.

“We've got one of the best starting eights in the country, well, the best,” Ingram said after the game. “So, when you're playing against those guys every day, it's going to get you ready. It's going to make you better. Even when you don't feel like you are getting better, you are."

After learning from a distance, Ingram could be an important piece to Florida’s bench next season. At 6-foot-6, 205 pounds, Ingram has the size of a traditional small forward, allowing him to give Thomas Haugh much-needed rest after the rising senior averaged 33.3 minutes per game during the 2025-26 campaign.

Additionally, Lloyd could see more time on the court in his sophomore season as the backup point guard, serving as Golden’s last option off the bench in an eight-man rotation.

Finally, no Aberdeen means Isaiah Brown’s older brother, AJ, would also have the chance to showcase his potential by competing for the ninth-man spot after sitting out the entirety of the 2025-26 season.

Golden could also award that ninth-man spot to one of Florida’s newest additions to its rotation. Whether it’s 7-foot center Jones Lay, junior center Victor Mikić, who’s been with the Gators since the 2025 national championship run, or one of the three foreign players the Gators signed, Florida could have a reserved big man fulfill this role, adding size to UF’s three-headed monster of a frontcourt.

Whether Aberdeen is granted a return or not, the Gators could see changes that would test the team’s depth throughout the 2026-27 season that starts against Miami in Tampa on Nov. 2.

Contact Jeffrey Serber at Jserber@alligator.org. Follow him on X @JeffreySerber.

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