Denzel Aberdeen is heading back to Florida. He could play again for the Gators
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Former UK basketball player Denzel Aberdeen is transferring back to Florida.
- Aberdeen played three seasons for the Gators and was part of their 2025 NCAA title team.
- Aberdeen will need a waiver from the NCAA to play a fifth season of college basketball.
Denzel Aberdeen is heading back home.
On Friday afternoon, the former Kentucky basketball guard announced he was planning to transfer back to Florida, where he spent the first three seasons of his college career.
Aberdeen was a surprise entrant into the NCAA transfer portal just after midnight Tuesday. He was a senior at Kentucky this past season, where he averaged 13.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 30.6 minutes per contest for the Wildcats.
The 6-foot-5 Aberdeen needs to be granted a waiver by the NCAA to have a fifth year of eligibility. That waiver request would likely be related to Aberdeen’s freshman year in 2022-23. That season he played for just 41 minutes over 12 games for the Gators. But he played toward the end of that year and appeared in Florida’s final game of the season in the NIT.
“I’m excited to announce that I’m planning to re-enroll at the University of Florida to finish my undergraduate degree,” Aberdeen posted on Instagram when announcing his move back to Florida. “Thankful for the opportunity to finish my academic journey back home at the place where it started. Go Gators!”
Aberdeen was a bench contributor for the Gators during each of the 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. He was the sixth man for Todd Golden’s Florida program when the Gators won the 2025 NCAA championship.
Aberdeen, who turns 23 years old in December, didn’t give any indication as his senior season at UK progressed that he planned to pursue a fifth year of college basketball. He went through Senior Day activities on March 7 at Rupp Arena against Florida.
Currently, Aberdeen isn’t projected to be selected in this summer’s NBA draft.
Aberdeen is one of seven players from the 2025-26 UK team to enter the transfer portal this offseason. He’s joined in the portal by freshman guard Jasper Johnson, sophomore forward Andrija Jelavic, sophomore guard Collin Chandler, junior forward Brandon Garrison, junior guard Jaland Lowe and junior forward Mouhamed Dioubate.
