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Denzel Aberdeen left Florida basketball for Kentucky following the 2024-25 season. Gators head coach Todd Golden recently shared his thoughts on Aberdeen's departure, via The Field of 68.
“We had a really special group this year,” Golden said. “There's three senior guards on the perimeter, gave us great leadership. And then our frontcourt guys… We just had a really deep, complete team… We've done a pretty good job retaining the guys that we wanted to keep. Obviously losing Denzel was tough. We wish him nothing but the best.
“But I'm pretty confident we will be able to find someone to take that spot. I think the Gators will have a pretty good group again next year.”
Florida basketball earned the national championship in 2025. The Gators utilized a competitive run to take care of business in the NCAA Tournament.
Losing Aberdeen is far from ideal, however. He averaged 7.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per outing across 39 games played (five starts) during the 2024-25 campaign. Aberdeen also shot 41.8 percent from the field and 35 percent from beyond the arc.
No, he was not a consistent starter with Florida. Still, he made a pivotal impact off the bench, averaging 19.7 minutes per game this past season. Now set to join Kentucky, Aberdeen will look to continue to improve at the college basketball level. If given enough minutes on the floor, Aberdeen could realistically take another step forward.
As for the Florida basketball program, they are looking to run it back and make another deep tournament run next year. As Golden mentioned, the Gators have been able to keep a number of impactful players. They have also made a few important additions.
Winning back-to-back championships is incredibly difficult. Perhaps Florida can accomplish the feat. Only time will tell whether or not the Gators will emerge as a true championship contender once again during the 2025-26 season.
