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Former Florida men's basketball guard Denzel Aberdeen has committed to Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats, according to a report from On3.
The junior averaged 7.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game, primarily coming off the bench for the 2024-25 National Champions. His best game in the 2025 NCAA Tournament came in the Sweet 16 when he scored 12 points on 5-7 shooting in a win over Maryland.
He was also a 35 percent three-point shooter who had the ability to catch fire. Aberdeen posted back-to-back 20-point games in the heart of SEC play as his minutes jumped this season to nearly 20 per game, compared to fewer than 10 last year.
On3 ranked Aberdeen as the No. 4 combo guard in this year's transfer portal class and the No. 79 player overall. He came to college as a three-star recruit as part of head coach Todd Golden‘s first freshman class and will have one year of eligibility remaining.
Aberdeen is the fifth player that Kentucky has landed via the transfer portal. He joins Kam Williams (Tulane), Jaland Lowe (Pittsburgh), Mouhamed Dioubate (Alabama) and Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State).
From the Wildcats' perspective, Kentucky might have a full roster at this point. The last thing Pope is waiting on is an NBA Draft decision from Otega Oweh. If he withdraws, Kentucky will have 13 scholarship players signed for next year. Even if he does not, it may be smarter to only carry 12 rather than promise minutes to the last guy on the bench.
Pope is also bringing in the fourth-best freshman class in the country, per ESPN, though that was calculated before Acaden Lewis de-committed.
Kentucky basketball is coming off a strong first season under Pope, who took over for John Calipari. The Wildcats went 24-12 this season, reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019. They earned a 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, knocking off Troy and Illinois in the Big Dance before ultimately falling to conference rival Tennessee.
