Who said you can't come back home? Especially if Denzel Aberdeen gets a waiver.
Aberdeen, who spent three seasons with the Gators and was part of the 2025 national championship team, will be returning to Gainesville next season after a year at Kentucky. The reunion with Todd Golden is pending a waiver that he's almost certain to get. Aberdeen, a 6-foot-5 guard out of Orlando, averaged 13.5 points and 3.4 assists per game for the Wildcats.
Sources: Kentucky transfer Denzel Aberdeen has committed to Florida.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 10, 2026
The 6-5 guard --- who was an integral part of the Gators' run to the 2025 national title --- averaged 13.5 PPG last season and will now be reunited with Todd Golden in Gainesville.
This reunion probably wasn't on anyone's bingo card, but a year is a long time and feelings that might've been there in the spring of 2025 aren't there anymore. If nothing else, this shows that Aberdeen didn't realize how good he had it in Gainesville until he went and spent a season playing under Mark Pope.
The waiver shouldn't be an issue. Aberdeen only played a few minutes as a freshman and will be looking to label that season as a redshirt.
Denzel Aberdeen back to Florida, pending a waiver or implementation of a 5 year rule.
— Florida Basketball Hour (@FloridaBBHour) April 10, 2026
Aberdeen played only 41 minutes as a freshman.
He should prevail in court even if NCAA declines to grant an obviously meritorious waiver request.
Denzel Aberdeen will return to Florida for his final season
So about the past. Yeah, so Aberdeen had a solid junior season in Gainesville. He played almost 20 minutes a game and averaged 7.7 points per game while shooting around 35 percent on 3-points. Aberdeen was a solid rotational guy and was in line to start this season had he stayed, but he wanted more and his Dad really wanted more for him. Y'all remember these comments from Ian Aberdeen?
"He hasn't really shown what he can do. You could see spurts of it at Florida and even previously, but he wants a coach who believes in him," the elder Aberdeen said at the time"
He said this a few days after his son was on the floor for the final possessions of the national championship game. And he added that Kentucky was a dream school, but now we can safely ask whose dream was Ian Aberdeen talking about?
But if it's water under the bridge between Golden and Denzel Aberdeen, then no one else should have any issues. Gator nation is happy to have Aberdeen back in the fold, and now it's time to focus on getting another championship ring.